By Vanessa Richins

In response to a “protest tour” started by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Subway has agreed to pay an extra penny per pound for all tomatoes bought from Southwest Florida.

Members from the Coalition went to Subway’s headquarters in Miami, Florida with demands that Subway help them give their tomato pickers better wages and working conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

I know you love tomatoes, but the DiMares *love* tomatoes.

For eight decades, the DiMare family has been in the tomato business, and they show no signs of slowing down now.

It all started with a pushcart in Boston and has grown to operations in Florida, Texas, and California, making the DiMare’s one of the largest tomato packers and growers in America.

The company started in 1927 with brothers Joseph (18), Anthony (16), and Dominic (15), first-generation Italian-Americans, selling tomatoes in Beantown’s Haymarket area. Soon thereafter, the Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

In the ongoing battle between tomato growers and tomato pickers in Florida, there are some new players—namely four United States senators including Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), head of the Health, Education, and Labor Committee.

In response to Burger King’s threat to stop buying Florida tomatoes, Senators Kennedy, Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) are urging the fast food change to agree to pay a penny more a pound for tomatoes, similar to provisions in agreements signed by McDonald’s Corp. and Yum Brands Inc., which owns Taco Bell. Read the rest of this entry »