Food. Justice. Work.
The Checkout centers the voices and efforts of essential workers on the frontlines of our food system. Now more than ever, our food system is in a constant state of flux, radical change and crisis. From political economy and supply chain analysis to public policy, labor organizing and community struggles, The Checkout will expand the horizon of what is necessary to create a just, equitable and progressive food system.
The Checkout is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Episode 25: Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and The Fair Food Program
“If you have a lot of purchasing power, you can drive prices down. At the same time, if you have a lot of purchasing power, you can demand more humane conditions, you can demand compliance with fundamental human rights in your suppliers’ operations, you can improve the lives of millions of people… if you decide to wield that same volume purchasing power for good as opposed to evil.”
“The reasons all these mechanisms work are the market consequences in these agreements with the buyers. If a grower is found out of compliance, the buyer has to suspend purchases. All of this comes together to form an actual enforcement of the rights in the Fair Food Code of Conduct. That’s the power of the purchase order.”
“Whatever they call social responsibility in the food industry has been a joke, a fraud… it is absolutely empty and soulless and unreal. It is everything that has not worked and has been done for public relations purposes for the corporations, not the workers. That all became clear when Covid came down and all these outbreaks came to the press, did any of the Buyers of all that meat step up and say that we can’t allow this to keep happening? Not one.”
Episode 16: Errol Schweizer on Taste Radio
“We have the most work to do in the food industry.”
We started The Checkout for a few reasons. One, we are food industry lifers and wanted to do a show about food from an insider’s perspective. Two, we felt we needed to center the efforts of working class and BIPOC folks on the frontlines. Three, there is so much injustice and inequity in the food industry and we need to change that. And four, we feel a deep sense of love and solidarity with our colleagues and want to recognize and give a voice to the work they do everyday of the year to feed the world. We hope you enjoy The Checkout and this interview with Ray Latif on Taste Radio.
Episode 15: Chris Smalls and The People Vs. Amazon
“Our mission is to create a rank and file democracy of essential workers… to get enough workforce behind us that we have more power than Congress itself…
“Until we have enough power to tell Amazon or any employer we’re not going to work unless you meet our demands.”
From tcoew.org : The Congress of Essential Workers (T.C.O.E.W.) is a collective of essential workers and allies across the United States coming together under a common goal: to support each other in a fight for better working conditions, better wages, and a better world. T.C.O.E.W. was founded by Chris Smalls, a former Amazon warehouse manager who was fired by the company after organizing a protest against the company’s abysmal handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has put hundreds of thousands of workers at risk without proper PPE and social distancing regulations.
The TCOEW Vision:
A living wageAll workers are shareholdersJob securityPaid sick leave and hazard pay at full pay rate Free healthcareNo wage cap1-hour lunch breaksPPE to be provided at all timesChildcareMonthly bonuses
To support Chris Smalls: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-chris-smalls-who-was-fired-by-amazon
For more info: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/02/dear-jeff-bezos-amazon-instead-of-firing-me-protect-your-workers-from-coronavirus , https://twitter.com/Shut_downAmazon and https://tcoew.org/about/
Episode 14: Leah Douglas on Covid19, OSHA and meat plant workers
“There’s definitely a need for the private sector to step up in reporting this info and making it publicly available.”
Leah Douglas has been doing Pulitzer-worthy reporting on Covid19 and here she gives us the big picture on the pandemic, OSHA and the meat racket.
From thefern.org: Leah Douglas is an associate editor and staff writer at FERN. Prior to joining the team, she worked for three years as a reporter and policy analyst with the Open Markets Institute, where she researched economic consolidation and monopolization in the food and agriculture industry. She founded and wrote Food & Power, a first-of-its kind resource on food sector consolidation. Her writing on food, agriculture, and land policy has appeared in The Nation, CNN, Fortune, Time, Slate, Civil Eats, and more. For more, see: https://thefern.org/2020/10/could-the-food-system-face-a-new-covid-19-wave-ahead/ and https://twitter.com/leahjdouglas .