Campus Engagement Reflection: CIW Fast for Fair Food

Emily Helm

WST 4415

Prof. Tweed

March 18, 2012

         During the week of Spring Break I participated in the Coalition of Immokalee Worker’s Fast for Fair Food outside of Publix Headquarters in Lakeland. I fasted in solidarity for six days, before breaking my fast with bread handed to me by Ethel Kennedy. Going in to the fast I experienced a lot of apprehension; I wasn’t sure why I was participating and was unsure of the integrity of my motives. I felt that my involvement was necessary because of my deep implication in the issue as a member of the Lakeland community, but I was concerned that I was being driven entirely out of guilt.

         Over the course of the week I gained an incredible amount of knowledge and insight into the farmworker movement, which encompasses a large number of global issues including fair wages, working, living, and health conditions, women’s rights, mother’s rights, and basic human freedom. It was really vital that I experience these issues. I was able to witness this movement, rather than just reading about global and transnational feminist issues in a text.

         I participated in global and transnational feminism by occupying space and being a physical presence. I literally joined them where they were at and worked with them, allowing the CIW to lead me against an issue. I showed solidarity by not allowing myself to be made complicit in farmworker exploitation.

         One day the coalition members led a workshop on the operation of the CIW. Their organizational structure consists of over 4,000 members headed by a small, core group of leaders, within which there is no hierarchy. These leaders rotate positions, which enables them to learn diverse responsibilities and organizational tactics. They encourage members and allies to take on leadership and responsibility, which builds a sense of empowerment. I experienced this firsthand: because of my community ties they asked me to speak to media about why I was participating in the fast. They worked with me to develop my own ideas into statements that reflect the CIW’s mission in a strategic fashion. They made me feel like I had an important role in their mission, as if there was something to be done that could only be accomplished by me, personally. This was really empowering, and has encouraged me to continue working with them and other farmworker and immigrant-issue organizations.

         It was really interesting to see how language plays into their mission. When naming their event and speaking to the media, they don’t use the term “hunger strike.” Rather, they call it “fast for fair food.” “Strike” connotes unions and communist revolution for some people, whereas “fast” is a term used more often for religious actions and spiritual cleansing. Using “fair food” instead of “wage increases” places focus on correcting injustice, rather than solving a labor dispute. When developing my press statements I was discouraged from using the term oppression. “It’s not that ‘oppression’ is an incorrect term,” said the Reverend Noelle Damico, who helped me work out my ideas, “we know that it absolutely is oppression. But when people hear that term, they think of radical uprisings, and that scares them.”

I have so much more to say about this, but I’ve already passed my word count, which is upsetting.