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Economic Impact: Tomatoes in Florida. Report 1
April 19,2006. CREA today released its first of a series of reports that will be issued during the organization's year-long study to assess the purchasing power of the wages and benefits paid to tomato pickers by each of the tomato growers who supply tomatoes to McDonald's.
The report is based upon an extensive study of the actual wages and benefits paid to the tomato pickers of Grower 1, as evidenced by a random sampling from each of the crews.. The study included a review by CREA staff of field reports, wages paid, and benefits received by these workers. This data study was complemented by interviews of the workers in the fields, and photographs. Interviews were conducted by CREA colleague Carolina Quinteros, MA, director of Special Projects for GMIES, the Independent Monitoring Group of El Salvador, a highly experienced interviewer. All of the work was directed by Ruth Rosenbaum, TC, PhD, a social economist and Executive Director of CREA.
Dr. Rosenbaum analyzed the result of the data and interviews and wrote Report 1. Her analysis assessed whether the wages and benefits of the tomato pickers of Grower 1 were equal to or exceeded the penny-a-pound increase standard. She also examined the McDonald's Grower's Standards and the standards of the Socially Accountable Farm Employers (S.A.F.E.) and made recommendations for the strengthening of those standards.
The report concludes with a consideration of the larger sustainability issues related to the tomato growing industry in the US and to agriculture in general, and the systemic questions involved in these issues. It raises the crucial need for all those with knowledge, experience, wisdom and creativity to come together to work to bring about the needed changes.
Future reports in this series will be released as they are completed, and a final comprehensive report will be released at the conclusion of the study. All are encouraged to read the actual reports, which are written in easily-understandable style and which include photographs taken during the study.
Click the following links to download the Report #1 or the Executive Summary.
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