If you drove down West Market Street last Friday then you might have passed people, including me, on the side of the road in front of Burger King.
We had signs that said “1 [One] Penny to End Poverty,” “Exploitation King” and “Boycott B.K.”
There were about six of us protesting. The morning started out with a local homeless man telling us we were doing something good, because he understood poverty.
We told people how we were supporting a nationwide boycott of Burger King and trying to raise awareness to the plight of farm workers.
We passed out fliers with shocking statistics on them to any person that would listen to us.
Now, you might ask why anyone would want you to boycott “The King,” but if you walked or drove around campus last week then you probably saw the signs stating some of the things farm workers go through to earn money for their families.
Sophomore Heidi Davis, holding a sign saying “Exploitation King,” came out to the protest because she knows farm workers personally. “I know how hard they have to work and how little they make.”
Farm workers are paid roughly 45 cents per 32-pound bucket of produce that they pick, which is about the same amount of money that they made in 1980! Therefore, workers have to pick close to two and a half tons to make minimum wage for a usual 10-hour day.
Plus, farm workers have no right to overtime pay even in a typical 60-70 hour work week and no right to organize or bargain.
Also child labor laws do not apply to farm workers so there are young children out there picking your tomatoes in 80 degree weather, usually for 10 hours a day!
The reason behind protesting Burger King is that McDonald’s and other fast food companies such as Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut (Yum Foods Corporation) have agreed to pay an extra 1 cent per pound that will go directly to the farm workers and their families. Burger King refuses to pay this extra penny.
Even though the farm workers themselves are not boycotting their work, there have been major sit-ins and protests at the Burger King headquarters.
“The fast-food industry is a multibillion dollar industry and by continuing to reap their profits from exploiting their workers that hurts not only the farm workers but also family farms and small business farms because they’re trying to compete with the multimillion dollar industries,” said Jorja Cummings as she passed out fliers.
Not only is Burger King not joining in with Taco Bell and McDonald’s to pay the extra penny, they have also teamed up with the Florida Tomato Growers Association to fine the growers that are paying the extra penny per pound.”
So, remember that farm workers handpick about 85 percent of all the produce that you eat for pretty much nothing.
There is currently a nationwide boycott of Burger King until they agree to do their part in helping to end poverty in their produce chain.
Be a conscious consumer!

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