posted by Charles Johnson at 5:14 pm
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a grassroots, community-based union representing farmworkers in central Florida, has called on fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and other large tomato buyers to step up and help farmworkers gain a living wage for their work — by agreeing to pay an extra penny per pound of tomatoes that they purchase from large tomato growers, which will go directly to the farmworkers who picked those tomatoes. (The penny-per-pound program costs participating buyers only a quarter for every 25-pound box of fresh tomatoes that they buy — but it could raise farmworkers’ wages by almost two-thirds. In an industry where the average worker makes approximately $10,000/year, and where wages have not risen significantly since 1978, the penny-per-pound program could finally break through this exploitation, and offer many farmworkers a chance to finally win a living wage for their labor.) Since the C.I.W. began its penny-per-pound campaign, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and Whole Foods have all signed agreements with the C.I.W. committing to participate in the penny-per-pound program, and to implement codes of conduct requiring their suppliers to respect the rights and safety of farmworkers in their fields. But Chipotle — while promising “Food With Integrity” and marketing themselves to customers as a leader in socially-responsible business practices — has repeatedly refused to sign any penny-per-pound agreement with the C.I.W. Let’s tell Chipotle that we don’t enjoy the taste of exploitation!
In solidarity with Immokalee farmworkers and the C.I.W.’s historic campaign, MEChA de UNLV has called for a DEMONSTRATION TOMORROW (Wednesday, 9/30) 11 A.M. – 2 P.M. in front of the Chipotle location at Maryland and Harmon, across the street from UNLV. Join us! Bring a sign, bring a friend; most importantly bring yourself. Chipotle exploits farmworkers — let’s tell them ya basta!
WHAT: Picket for fair food and the C.I.W.’s penny-per-pound agreement
WHERE: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Maryland and Harmon, across the street from UNLV.
WHEN: Wednesday, 9/30/2009, 11:00 A.M. – 2 P.M.
WHO: Anyone who supports a living wage for farmworkers and opposes exploitation!
Hope to see y’all there!
For more information on the C.I.W. and its campaign, check out their website at ciw-online.org.
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Actions, Chipotle, CIW, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, MEChA, MEChA de UNLV, Pickets
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posted by Charles Johnson at 2:50 pm
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas shared food at our weekly Picnic in the Park at Baker Park from 10am to 11:30am. We had grapes, rice, chili, vegetable soup, salad, and a vegan green bean casserole, with some blueberry scones for dessert. We also had orange juice, fruit punch, and water to drink.
About 40 people came to join us in the meal. Food Not Bombs organizers Charles, Kelly, Scott, and Daniel were there. Joe brought by hot food and salad that Gail had prepared. There was music on the boombox and we enjoyed the weather now that the heat is starting to break.
Hope to see you all next week!
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas shared food at our weekly Picnic in the Park at Baker Park from 10am to 12pm. We had bread, rice, chili, vegetable soup, vegan green bean casserole, salad with ginger dressing, and a bean salsa specially prepared by Chef Mayra. We also had orange juice, fruit punch, lime soda, and homemade grape juice to drink. As a special treat, Chef Mayra brought vegan brownies and vegan carrot cake for dessert.
About 30 people came to join us in the meal. Food Not Bombs organizers Scott, Daniel, Charles, Gail, Kelly, and Chef Mayra were there. We put some music on the boombox and talked about the worsening situation with the city government’s so-called “social services.”
Hope to see you all next week!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Baker Park, Meals
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posted by Charles Johnson at 2:43 pm
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas shared food at our weekly Picnic in the Park at Baker Park from 10am to 12pm. We had bread, rice, chili, vegetable soup, vegan green bean casserole, salad with ginger dressing, and a bean salsa specially prepared by Chef Mayra. We also had orange juice, fruit punch, lime soda, and homemade grape juice to drink. As a special treat, Chef Mayra brought vegan brownies and vegan carrot cake for dessert.
About 30 people came to join us in the meal. Food Not Bombs organizers Scott, Daniel, Charles, Gail, Kelly, and Chef Mayra were there. We put some music on the boombox and talked about the worsening situation with the city government’s so-called “social services.”
Hope to see you all next week!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Baker Park, Meals
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posted by Charles Johnson at 12:20 pm
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas will be holding its next organizing meeting THIS SATURDAY (9/2) at 3:00pm at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Running Rebel Plaza, 4550 S. Maryland Pkwy. (It’s right across the street from UNLV at Harmon.)
- WHAT: Food Not Bombs Las Vegas organizational meetup
- WHEN: Saturday, 12 September 2009, 3:00pm
- WHERE: Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Running Rebel Plaza, 4550 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89119
The tentative agenda for the meeting will cover our three major projects for the fall: the Living Without Borders activist conference at UNLV, a benefit concert in late November, and expanding to a second weekly picnic in a park.
- Donations and cars: for many reasons (some of them listed below) it’s going to be important for us to organize a schedule of who can do food pick-ups, what stores to contact for donations, and who has cars available for FNB to be able to do its work. If you’ve got a car available for FNB, let us know! If you’ve got time during either the mornings or the early evening when you could do food pick-ups, let us know! If you know anyone who works for a grocery store or a restaurant, let us know! If you can contact the manager or back-room worker at a grocery store or restaurant in town, let us know!
- Living Without Borders, November 7-8. The UCIR Living Without Borders encuentro (conference) is an upcoming community/activist gathering focused on freedom, human rights, and dignity for all im/migrants. This year Living Without Borders will be held the weekend of November 7-8. They have invited us to provide Food Not Bombs food for participants.
- Benefit concert, late November. Food Not Bombs Las Vegas has been approached by a local band which would like to put on a benefit concert working with Food Not Bombs Las Vegas. They’d provide the music and arrange the venue; we’d provide food, and information for anyone who wants it, about our group. The concert would be in late November.
- Project Saturday. Together with working to prepare and build up our capacity for the big November events, we also need to work on expanding our base of donations, volunteers, and cooking space — all of which we can test-run by opening up a second weekly picnic in the park on Saturdays.
- Other outreach opportunities. Any other outreach opportunities that y’all can think of for the upcoming fall! If you know of anything, drop us a line or mention it at the meeting!
If there is anything further that you want to make sure that we discuss at the upcoming meeting, or if you have any questions, leave a comment on this post, or contact me (Charles) by
e-mail or by phone or text at (734) 262-2129. If you’re definitely interested but cannot, for whatever reason, make the meeting, please contact me with some times when you will be able to meet up to touch base.
Let’s get together and get on this. There’s a lot of exciting stuff coming up, and Food Not Bombs Las Vegas has the chance to build a lot of bridges this fall. Hope to see you all there on Saturday!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Announcements, Meetings, Project Saturday
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posted by Charles Johnson at 3:21 pm
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas shared food at our weekly Picnic in the Park at Baker Park from 10am to 12pm. We had rice, chili, vegetable soup, pasta, salad and bread to eat, with juice and water to drink.
About 35 people came to join us in the meal. Food Not Bombs organizers Charles, Daniel, Kelly, Shine, Nelson, and Ray were there to set out the food and drinks. Joe brought hot food that Gail had prepared. We put on a line-up of music on the boombox, talked about the healthcare debate in Congress, and a couple folks tossed a football around.
Hope to see you all at the park next week!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Baker Park, Meals
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posted by Charles Johnson at 1:12 pm
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas shared food at our weekly Picnic in the Park at Baker Park from 10am to 12pm. We had rice, chili, vegetable soup, pesto pasta, and salad to eat, with juice and water to drink, and a special dessert of vegan brownies prepared by Chef Mayra.
About 30 people came to join us in the meal. Food Not Bombs organizers Charles, Daniel, Kelly, Ray, and new FNB organizer Scott were there to set out the food and drinks. Joe brought hot food that Gail had prepared. And in a special treat, professional vegan chef Chef Mayra came out to offer artichoke and red pepper pasta with pesto sauce and vegan brownies. Mayra, who we are pleased to welcome as a new supporter of Food Not Bombs Las Vegas, plans on coming out to the park every other week. We put on a line-up of music on the boombox, talked about cooking and about plans for the upcoming fall, and a couple folks tossed a football around.
Hope to see you all at the park next week!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Baker Park, Meals
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posted by Charles Johnson at 12:48 pm
Food Not Bombs will be holding its second Fall organizing meeting THIS SATURDAY (8/29) at 3:00pm at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Running Rebel Plaza, 4550 S. Maryland. (It’s right across the street from UNLV at Harmon.) If you can possibly make this meeting, and want to be involved with Food Not Bombs this fall, please come on out. If you cannot make it, but want to be involved with Food Not Bombs this fall, please contact Charles using our online contact form to let us know a good time for a short face-to-face meetup sometime within the next two weeks.
- WHAT: Food Not Bombs Las Vegas 2nd Fall organizing meeting
- WHEN: Saturday, 29 August 2009, 3:00pm
- WHERE: Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Running Rebel Plaza, 4550 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89119
The agenda for this organizing meeting will be focused on (1) touching base about where Food Not Bombs Las Vegas is now, (2) talking about three major upcoming organizing opportunities in the Fall — an important activist conference at UNLV, an offer for a benefit concert by a local band, and organizing a second weekly picnic in a park. There’s a lot coming up in the next few months, and it’ll be important to make some time to posse up and talk about it.
- Donations and cars: for many reasons (some of them listed below) it’s going to be important for us to organize a schedule of who can do food pick-ups, what stores to contact for donations, and who has cars available for FNB to be able to do its work. If you’ve got a car available for FNB, let us know! If you’ve got time during either the mornings or the early evening when you could do food pick-ups, let us know! If you know anyone who works for a grocery store or a restaurant, let us know! If you can contact the manager or back-room worker at a grocery store or restaurant in town, let us know!
- Living Without Borders, November 7-8. The UCIR Living Without Borders encuentro (conference) is an upcoming community/activist gathering focused on freedom, human rights, and dignity for all im/migrants. This year Living Without Borders will be held the weekend of November 7-8. They have invited us to provide Food Not Bombs food for participants.
- Benefit concert, late November. Food Not Bombs Las Vegas has been approached by a local band which would like to put on a benefit concert working with Food Not Bombs Las Vegas. They’d provide the music and arrange the venue; we’d provide food, and information for anyone who wants it, about our group. The concert would be in late November.
- Project Saturday. Together with working to prepare and build up our capacity for the big November events, we also need to work on expanding our base of donations, volunteers, and cooking space — all of which we can test-run by opening up a second weekly picnic in the park on Saturdays.
- Other outreach opportunities. Any other outreach opportunities that y’all can think of for the upcoming fall! If you know of anything, drop us a line or mention it at the meeting!
If there is anything further that you want to make sure that we discuss at the upcoming meeting, or if you have any questions, leave a comment on this post, or contact me (Charles) by
e-mail or by phone or text at (734) 262-2129. If you’re definitely interested but cannot, for whatever reason, make the meeting, please contact me with some times when you will be able to meet up to touch base.
Let’s get together and get on this. There’s a lot of exciting stuff coming up, and Food Not Bombs Las Vegas has the chance to build a lot of bridges this fall. Hope to see you all there on Saturday!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Announcements, Meetings, Project Saturday
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posted by Charles Johnson at 9:32 pm
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas shared food at our weekly Picnic in the Park at Baker Park from 10:00am to 12:00pm. We had potatoes, chili, rice, vegetable soup, salad and cucumbers to eat, with soda, juice, and water to drink. We had a boombox with music and a couple of folks tossed a football around.
About 30 people came to join us in the meal. Food Not Bombs organizers Charles, Daniel, Kelly, Gail, and Joe were there to set out the food and drinks. We talked about plans for an upcoming organizational meeting. Later on, a couple of park marshals showed up but they didn’t give us any trouble — they were just there to let veryone know about the change to park hours (Baker Park is not open to the public during the school day on weekdays when school is in session) once school started on Monday.
Hope to see you all at the park next week!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Baker Park, Meals
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posted by Charles Johnson at 9:33 am
Food Not Bombs will be holding its first Fall organizing meeting THIS SATURDAY at 5:00pm at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Running Rebel Plaza, 4550 S. Maryland. (It’s right across the street from UNLV.)
If you are currently involved with Food Not Bombs Las Vegas, or interested in getting involved with Food Not Bombs Las Vegas, be sure to come on out — there are a lot of opportunities coming up for Food Not Bombs this fall and it’ll be important to make some time to posse up and talk about them. In particular, we’ll be discussing:
- What Food Not Bombs Las Vegas is, what we do, and where we’re at now
- Living Without Borders: The UCIR Living Without Borders encuentro (conference) is an upcoming community/activist gathering focused on freedom, human rights, and dignity for all im/migrants. This
year Living Without Borders will be held the weekend of November 7-8. They have invited us to provide Food Not Bombs food for participants.
- Benefit concert: An offer for Food Not Bombs Las Vegas to participate in an upcoming benefit show put on by a local band in November.
- Project Saturday: Expanding our donations, volunteers, and cooking space so that we can open up a second weekly picnic in the park on Saturdays.
- Outreach opportunities: Any other outreach opportunities that y’all can think of for the upcoming months!
If you have any questions about the upcoming meeting or about the topics we’ll be talking about, hit us up in the comments section or
contact us to touch base. If you’re definitely interested but cannot, for whatever reason, make the meeting, please
contact us with some times when you will be able to meet up. This is intended to be the first organizing meeting, not by any means the last.
Let’s get together and get on this. There’s a lot of exciting stuff coming up, and Food Not Bombs Las Vegas has the chance to build a lot of bridges this fall. Hope to see you all there on Saturday!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Announcements, Meetings
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posted by Charles Johnson at 1:49 pm
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas shared food at our weekly Picnic in the Park at Baker Park from 10:00am to 12:00pm. We had chili, rice, vegetable soup, salad, and banana bread to eat, with lemonade, soda, juice, and water to drink. We had a boombox with music and a few of us tossed a football around.
About 30 people came to join us in the meal. Food Not Bombs organizers Charles, Daniel, and Kelly were there to set out the food; Gail sent hot food and her famous salad but was unable to come out to the park herself; and we welcomed back FNBer J.T., who has been traveling.
Hope to see you all at the park next week!
—Charles Johnson
Tags: Baker Park, Meal
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