Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Taco Bell Boycott Resource Office
17 Dyke Rd. ~ Setauket, NY ~ 11733
631-751-7076 ~ boycott@pcusa.org
www.pcusa.org/boycott

[posted 1-15-03]

The Rev. Noelle Damico, Program Associate

FAST FOR JUSTICE AND FAIR FOOD AT TACO BELL HEADQUARTERS BEGINS FEB. 24, 2003

In June 2002 the General Assembly of the PCUSA endorsed a consumer boycott of Taco Bell restaurants and products. This boycott is an effort to bring Taco Bell, Florida tomato growers and farm workers together for three-way negotiations to address wages and working/living conditions. (For details visit www.pcusa.org/boycott)

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a community-based workers organization led by and composed of Immokalee farmworkers, has received PCUSA support for the boycott with gratitude and joy. In November Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick visited Immokalee and met with more than one hundred workers. Congregations and members across the nation have been boycotting Taco Bell and writing to its president, Emil Brolick.

Now the CIW invites Presbyterians to support the workers in their latest public witness, a hunger fast at the doorstep of Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine California. The fast calls upon Taco Bell to take responsibility for the sweatshop conditions in the fields where its tomatoes are picked. The fast will begin Monday, February 24. A massive, peaceful rally by supporters will take place Friday, February 28 from 11:00 - 3:00PM. Here are some ways you can support the workers in their fast:

-Remember the workers and pray for an end to exploitation in the fast food and agricultural industries.

-Send a representative from your congregation to the week-long event or to the rally to either fast with the workers or support their efforts.

-Conduct a solidarity fast or other prayerful action in your local area to draw attention to the boycott and the issues that lay behind it. For some fasting ideas and other resources visit www.pcusa.org/boycott. Please let us know you are fasting or holding events by emailing boycott@pcusa.org.

-Make a financial contribution to support the workers who are fasting. They will be missing work, traveling to CA, and also need to keep paying rent in their absence. Make a check out to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, earmark it "hunger fast", and send it to: Coalition of Immokalee Workers, P.O. Box 603, Immokalee, FL 34143 or donate online by visiting the fast page at www.ciw-online.org.

-If you are in the Irvine area, house and/or provide showers and/or meals for the support team working with those observing the fast. Contact the Rev. Noelle Damico, PCUSA Taco Bell boycott coordinator for more information at boycott@pcusa.org or 631-751-7076.

-If you are in California (even way up north) and would like some of the workers who are not fasting to speak at your congregation during the week of the fast, contact the Rev. Noelle Damico (info above).

For more information on the fast as well as background and resources on the boycott, visit www.pcusa.org/boycott. To let us know of your support, your ideas or if you have questions please email boycott@pcusa.org.