After the Bon Appétit Management Company signed an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in November, Students for Fair Trade had been pressuring Aramark—which operates the eateries at the Washington University School of Law and School of Medicine—to sign a similar agreement to ensure that all tomatoes on campus came from growers who offered workers living wages and safe working conditions.

“Getting tomatoes banned was not actually our original goal; we wanted Aramark as a corporation to sign an agreement with the CIW so that they wouldn’t have to ban tomatoes and could instead buy ethically produced ones,” Jessica Goldkind, the former president of Students for Fair Trade, wrote in an e-mail.

Goldkind led the tomato ban effort and helped produce a petition signed by more than 180 individuals calling for Aramark to discontinue tomato sales. Goldkind was assisted by Geeti Mahajan, a graduate student at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

Dena McGeorge, regional manager for Aramark, received the petition and then met with Students for Fair Trade. McGeorge offered to discontinue tomato sales on campus until Aramark signed on with the CIW, and an offer was originally accepted.

“At first we thought that would be good, which is why word spread about that…but then we talked to the leaders of the Student/Farmworker Alliance, who explained that a local ban could be bad for their long-term strategy,” Goldkind added in the e-mail.

Aramark corporate headquarters claimed no involvement in the discussions with Students for Fair Trade and was unaware that any offer was made to discontinue tomatoes.

Though Aramark has not signed an agreement with the CIW, Aramark Communications Director Karen Cutler stressed that the company and its distribution partners attempt to contract with growers whose practices meet applicable workplace laws and regulations whenever possible.

The food service giant also has agreed to the “penny per pound” premium, in which 1 cent goes directly to the workers for every pound of tomatoes purchased. But Cutler acknowledged in writing that “it is widely known that the money accumulated over the past few years has largely been held in escrow and that the Farm Workers have not received these funds.”

Now that each campus eatery has established its policy on tomato sales, Students for Fair Trade is focusing on raising public awareness about the plight of tomato pickers.

“We’re just trying to work on raising awareness about different ways in which our consumer power as a university impacts the world, so now I think we’re going to focus more on the consciousness-raising aspect of it,” said senior Jessica Werley, the current president of Students for Fair Trade.

Students for Fair Trade hopes to host a roundtable discussion in February to continue the tomato dialogue on campus.

Effective this past Monday, Bon Appétit—the subcontractor that provides catering for Dining Services—no longer serves tomato slices or wedges on campus.

This decision stems from an agreement that Bon Appétit Management Company signed with The Coalition of Immokalee Works (CIW), an organization that represents thousands of workers who pick tomatoes in Florida.

In an effort to improve the workers’ wages and working conditions, the agreement establishes a code of conduct for tomato growers in Florida that calls for higher safety standards and requires workers to be paid a fair minimum wage.

The agreement also requires that an independent monitor enforce the code.

Bon Appétit will serve tomatoes only from growers that agree to abide by the specifications of the agreement.

Alderman Farms, a commercial tomato grower in Boynton Beach, Fla., was the first company to sign on and agree to the standards outlined by the agreement.

Since the company grows primarily grape tomatoes, Wash. U. will not be serving tomatoes of other varieties.

“We are doing this for justice of the farm workers, and we believe that our students will be very supportive, because that’s the nature of the students here at Washington University,” said Jill Duncan, director of marketing and communications for Bon Appétit Management Company. “We are excited about it, and we hope that our students are as well.”

The current average wage for tomato farm workers is about 45 cents for every 32 pounds of tomatoes picked, according to Marc Rodrigues, an organizer for the Student Farmers Association.

In order to earn a Florida minimum wage for a 10-hour day, a farm worker would have to pick 2.5 tons of tomatoes.

Rodrigues said that Bon Appétit’s decision to terminate its relationship with farms with sub-par working conditions is a significant move.
The Bon Appétit Management Company has more than 400 venue locations in 29 states.

“People often don’t think about where their foods come from or under what conditions they are produced,” Rodrigues said. “[What] Bon Appétit is doing is raising awareness of this issue and I think that’s a huge step.”

Rodrigues said that the Student Farmers Association, which works closely with the CIW, is trying to get other campus food providers to sign the agreement.

Aramark—the food provider for the medical and law schools—has not signed the agreement.

“We are going to put pressure on Aramark and make sure they do the right thing, ” Rodrigues said.

This decision is coming to the forefront now because Bon Appétit purchases tomatoes from Florida during the winter season.

The company purchases tomatoes locally when possible, according to Duncan.

Junior Jessica Goldkind, co-president of Students for Fair Trade, said that she believes students will react positively to the change since they will still be able to get tomato sauces and grape tomatoes.

“I personally really support this decision that Bon Appétit has made,” Goldkind said. “We are always pleased that we don’t have to do a lot of protesting and work to get Bon Appétit to make the right decisions.”