[Online]: Anti-Taco Bell movement still strong
By Vanda Suvansilpakit
Jan. 15, 2004 9:00 p.m.
In the coming months, farmworkers, student activists and
community members protesting Taco Bell’s buying practices
will set out from Immokalee, Florida, on a cross-country tour that
will end in front of the restaurant’s headquarters in Irvine,
California.
Protesters will be marching from East L.A. to Irvine from March
2-5.
During the week, student groups on the UCLA campus are planning
an educational event to raise student awareness on cases of human
rights abuses in the fields of Taco Bell’s tomato
suppliers.
The educational event will be held on March 3 to educate and
encourage students to participate in the rally in Irvine, said
Christina Kaoh, a member of the Student-Worker Front.
“It’ll be a really public event, hopefully somewhere
in Meyerhoff Park or Perloff Hall where a lot of people will be
walking by,” said Sarah Church, member of the Social Justice
Alliance, a student group on campus that denounces Taco
Bell’s practices.
The group is planning to provide transport for students who want
to join the demonstration in front of the restaurant’s
headquarters on March 5.
Church said the group will be creating “giant
banners” to make themselves visible at the rally.
“We’re also hoping to speak in support of the
farmworkers at the event,” she said.
The demonstration in Irvine is part of the 2004 Taco Bell Truth
Tour, which will take protesters through Louisville, Ky., where the
groups will hold a rally in front of the headquarters of Yum!
Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Student/Farmworker
Alliance groups organizing the tour hope to expose the poor labor
conditions in Immokalee.
Last year, the two groups demonstrated in front of the
restaurant’s headquarters, as well as going on a hunger
strike for 10 days before religious leaders intervened.
SJA member Nathan Lam, who joined the hunger strike for five
days, said that it was a trying experience but that he learned a
lot from it.
“It was raining all week … and the law enforcements were
strict about not having tents up during the day, so a lot of the
workers “”mdash; including myself “”mdash; ended up getting
pneumonia,” he said.
Though the restaurant remains popular at many high schools and
universities, other institutions have taken steps to remove Taco
Bell from their campuses as part of SFA’s “Boot the
Bell” campaign. According to the alliance’s web site,
16 schools across the nation are now “Taco Bell Free
Campuses.”
Some students at UCLA said they think Taco Bell should be
removed from the campus.
“A lot of people I know like Taco Bell … I myself have
had a taco here and there, but when you really look at it,
it’s horrific that we can’t afford to pay a few cents
more for these workers to have better living conditions,”
said Jackie Vayntrub, a fourth-year Jewish studies student.
