Greg Asbed and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are changing the lives of Florida's tomato pickers. Asbed, a 2017 MacArthur fellow, and his wife Laura Germino (both Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies alumni), have collaborated with Florida's tomato pickers to pressure exploitative farmers to recognize laborers' dignity and ensure humane wages and working conditions. Their model, called worker-driven social responsibility, is spreading to tomato pickers throughout the United States, dairy workers in Vermont, and garment industry workers in Bangladesh.
From the Judges
To quote a line in the story: “Does it matter whether an heirloom tomato is local and organic if it was harvested with slave labor?” Writer Bret McCabe masterfully makes us think about the inhumane working conditions of tomato pickers and underscores the power of the consumer. But he also summarizes the stance of those on either side of the issue of workers’ rights. Judges generally agreed that this story had the best introduction of all 103 entries. “Thirty-two pounds,” it begins. We learn that this is the weight of a full bucket of tomatoes, weighed by Florida’s tomato workers who, we’re told, endure brutal conditions.
