Methodists join boycott of Taco Bell

Published: May 20, 2004

PITTSBURGH (RNS) The United Methodist Church became the largest U.S. church body to join a boycott against Taco Bell, urging the fast-food giant to improve working conditions for migrant tomato-pickers in Immokalee, Fla.

A resolution passed by delegates said the boycott would remain in effect until Taco Bell “convenes serious three-way talks between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, representatives of Taco Bell and their tomato suppliers to address exploitation and slavery in the fields.”

The resolution said the migrant tomato workers earn just 40 cents for a 32-pound bucket of tomatoes, which has “not changed in more than 20 years.” The statement said some farmworkers have been held “in debt-bondage slavery.”