Protecting Human Dignity

Abstract

This chapter describes a partnership between churches and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a farmworker organization, in its Campaign for Fair Food, which strives for fair wages, a code of conduct, an end to slavery in the fields of south Florida, and a voice for farmworkers. People of faith have redefined a ministry of protecting human dignity by working as allies with the CIW to pressure fast-food companies and grocery stores to increase the amount they pay for tomatoes by a penny a pound, in an effort to improve the wages and human dignity of immigrant farmworkers. This chapter reveals lessons that include having faith in the improbable, integrating religious rituals into the tactics of grassroots groups, viewing the church as a partner for justice, seeing the church as a place for reconciliation, and recognizing human dignity as a component of sustainable food systems.