To the Editor:

Students around the country are rallying support for the farm worker-called boycott of Taco Bell. Workers in Immokalee, Florida, who pick tomatoes for the Six L’s corporation, earn around seven thousand dollars annually despite poor conditions and long work days. Organization attempts have met with beatings. These tomato-pickers have decided to pressure Six L’s’ biggest customer, Taco Bell, which could have a huge sway in forcing Six L’s to respect the human rights of its workers.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has launched a national boycott of Taco Bell. Around the country, students, religious groups, and people of consciousness everywhere have been calling for their communities to respect the boycott. Duke University students have convinced their administration to pull all Taco Bell products off the shelves. Nationally, students are coordinating efforts to get Aramark schools to kick out Taco Bell, attempting to pressure Aramark at the national level to cut their contract with Taco Bell. The University of Chicago, as an Aramark school, could greatly help the boycott by kicking Taco Bell out of Hutch Commons. A campaign has begun on campus to pressure the administration to do just this.

Students have done everything from anti-Taco Bell cheerleading to sending in a group of representatives from several different student groups to speak with the University administration. Following the initial meeting between representatives from various student organizations and administrators Jen Bird and Cheryl Guttman, these students are now trying to raise awareness about the campaign in order to demonstrate campus support for the boycott. To get involved, look for an anti-Taco Bell table or e-mail mateogj@uchicago.edu. For more information, visit http://www.ciw-online.org.

Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle