Growing the Light: Holiday Reflections on Farmworker Justice

This Holiday Season, join farmworkers, Silvia Sabanilla, Oscar Otzoy, Lupe Gonzalo, and Lusvi Perez, and allies of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), Rev. Allison Farnum, Rev. Naomi King, Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson, and Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, in preparing to grow the light of farmworker justice throughout the new year. The season of Hanukkah, Advent, and the Solstice draws us into a time of anticipation and preparation with all who long for release from oppression. Through the Fair Food Program (FFP), the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, together with student and faith allies, kindles the flame of justice for farmworkers in the tomato fields of Immokalee and now on farms across seven states. Sign up today to receive this weekly Holiday reflection series and its calls to action in solidarity with farmworkers!

The Holiday season lines up with one of the busiest months of harvest in the tomato fields of Immokalee, where 90% of winter time tomatoes consumed in the US are grown.  Farmworkers employed by growers participating in the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program can count on this: guaranteed bathroom and water breaks, time clocks, no theft of wages, and a grievance process to report sexual abuse and any violations of the worker-designed standards without retribution.  For those who work in fields that do not participate in the Fair Food Program, none of these protections are guaranteed. 

But the light is growing! Every day the number of people demanding fair food grows, led by the voices of farmworkers.  Your light - energy, joy, and commitment - is needed. Sign up for Growing the Light: Holiday Reflections on Farmworker Justice, share it with others in your congregation or community of faith, and prayerfully take action to prepare the way for the new day of justice illuminating this Holiday season.

Read our latest Holiday Reflections:

‘Growing the Light’ Holiday Reflections on Farmworker Justice — Winter Solstice Reflection on Farmworker Justice by Rev. Allison Farnum

Rev. Allison Farnum is a Unitarian Universalist minister, serving as Director of the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois. She serves on the Faith Working Group with the Alliance for Fair Food.

‘Growing the Light’ Holiday Reflections on Farmworker Justice — Hope for a Better World by Oscar Otzoy

Oscar Otzoy is a staff member of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Mr. Otzoy, originally from Guatemala, worked in the agricultural industry across the East Coast for many years as a harvester in everything from tomatoes to blueberries. As part of the Fair Food Program, Mr. Otzoy and his colleagues conduct workers’ rights education in the fields on all farms participating in the Fair Food Program. Mr. Otzoy’s work at the CIW includes hosting daily radio shows on the CIW’s low-power community FM radio station, leading the weekly community meetings, receiving complaints of abuses in the fields, and managing wage theft claims.

‘Growing the Light’ Holiday Reflections of Farmworker Justice — A New Day of Light and Hope for Agricultural Workers by Lupe and Silvia

Lupe Gonzalo is a staff member of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). She has worked in the United States' agricultural fields for the last 12 years as a migrant farmworker, including in the harvesting of tomatoes, citrus, peppers, and many other vegetables and fruits. As part of the Fair Food Program education team, Ms. Gonzalo and her colleagues conduct workers’ rights education in seven states along the East Coast throughout the year. Ms. Gonzalo was also a member of the CIW team working with Futures Without Violence, which collaborated with CIW and other Fair Food Program partners on the first sexual harassment training curriculum for the agricultural sector in the U.S. Drawing on her experience with the Fair Food Program, Ms. Gonzalo has helped to train, mentor, and educate workers from other regions and industries on the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model, assisting in those workers’ efforts to combat human rights abuses across the U.S. and the globe. Finally, she was featured on CNN Freedom Project’s recent series on the Fair Food Program and was named a Community Trailblazer by the Equal Voice Magazine.

Silvia Sabanilla is a staff member of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Originally from Mexico, Ms. Sabanilla worked in the agricultural industry across the South for more than 17 years as a harvester, picking tomatoes, peppers, and other mixed vegetables. As part of the Fair Food Program, Ms. Sabanilla and her colleagues conduct workers’ rights education on all farms participating in the Fair Food Program. Ms. Sabanilla’s work at the CIW includes hosting daily radio shows on the CIW’s low-power community FM radio station, leading the weekly Women’s Group meetings, receiving complaints of abuses in the fields, and managing wage theft claims. Finally, Ms. Sabanilla represents the CIW at a national level, speaking publicly on the challenges faced by farmworkers in Florida, both during major actions with thousands of consumers and in dozens of presentations throughout the year.

‘Growing the Light’ Holiday Reflections on Farmworker Justice — First Night of Hanukkah by Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster

Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster is T’ruah’s Deputy Director. Ordained in 2008 from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she was a student activist and leader, she is a noted speaker and writer on Judaism and human rights, including speaking internationally on behalf of the U.S. State Department on the issue of human trafficking. Her writing has appeared on CNN.com, the Forward, the New York Daily News, the Huffington Post, and many other publications. Rabbi Kahn-Troster was named to the Jewish Week’s 2011 “36 under 36” for her human rights activism. She serves on the boards of the Alliance for Fair Food and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.

Missed last year’s reflections? Check them out below:

‘Growing the Light’ Advent Reflections on Farmworker Justice: Week 4 — Refuse the Evil, Choose the Good By Cláudio Carvalhaes

Cláudio Carvalhaes, theologian, liturgist and artist, a native Brazilian, completed his Ph.D. in Liturgy and Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 2007. He earned his first Master of Philosophy degree in Theology, Philosophy, and History at the Methodist University of Sao Paulo in 1997 and a Master of Divinity degree from the Independent Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Sao Paulo, Brazil) in 1992. In the summer of 2016, Dr. Carvalhaes joined Union Theological Seminary in New York City as the Associate Professor of Worship.

‘Growing the Light’ Advent Reflections on Farmworker Justice: Week 3 — Tasting God’s Justice and Joy by D.L. Mayfield

D.L. Mayfield is a writer, neighbor, and ESOL teacher who lives in Portland, Oregon with her family. Her writing has appeared in a variety of places including the Washington Post, Vox, Image Journal, Christianity Today, and Sojourners. She has written two books, Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith and the forthcoming The Myth of the American Dream: Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety and Power.