Farmworkers bring three-day workers' rights festival to Palm Beach this weekend

An annual march through Palm Beach to draw attention to the plight of farmworkers has expanded to a three-day festival that begins Friday and runs through Sunday on the island.

The Farmworker Freedom Festival presented by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to highlight the Fair Food Program will take place at points throughout Palm Beach, including a daylong music and arts event on Saturday at Bradley Park, organizers said in a news release.

The Fair Food Program, founded in 2011, includes restaurants and retailers — like McDonald's and Whole Foods — that pledge to buy only from suppliers who follow a code of conduct designed to protect workers' rights. The program also includes economic premiums paid by the program's participants, with that money making its way down the supply chain to the workers.

Past Coverage: Farmworkers, allies to march in Palm Beach on Saturday

Calling the festival a three-day "celebration of farmworker culture and fundamental human rights," the fete was born as group leaders planned and realized there was more interest and there were more events than could fit in one day, the group said.

"As farmworkers, it is important to celebrate how far we have come thanks to the Fair Food Program, with its unique protections against wage theft, sexual harassment and even climate change, including mandatory rest, shade and water," Lupe Gonzalo, farmworker and senior coalition staff member, said in a news release. "But we know that for every farmworker empowered by the FFP, there are many more still toiling in extreme exploitation outside the program's bounds."

That is why, Gonzalo said, the festival is held in Palm Beach — home to Nelson Peltz, the billionaire chair of the board of directors of fast-food giant Wendy's. Peltz has the power to expand the Fair Food Program to include farmworkers in Wendy's supply chain, Gonzalo said.

Wendy's and Florida-based grocery chain Publix have historically been called out by the annual farmworkers march through Palm Beach, though this year's event is particularly focused on Peltz, as seen in news releases ahead of the festival.

A Wendy's spokesperson said the company does not participate in the Fair Food Program "because we do not purchase field grown tomatoes and there is no nexus between the program and our supply chain. Since 2019, we have sourced our North American tomato supply exclusively from indoor, hydroponic greenhouse farms, while the Fair Food Program predominantly operates in outdoor, conventional tomato growing environments.

"Wendy’s has an established Supplier Code of Conduct that applies to significant suppliers of The Wendy’s Company and our North America restaurant system, and we also require third-party reviews related to the human rights and labor practices for suppliers of certain hand-harvested, whole, fresh produce."

Publix Media Relations Manager Lindsey Willis said, "We value the relationships along the path from 'farm to fork' and realize it takes a lot of people, each providing a great service. Publix remains the focus of a campaign by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) who seek to pressure us to become involved in the employment relationship between Florida farmers who grow tomatoes and the farmworkers they employ to harvest their product. Since first approached by the CIW in 2009, we have consistently viewed this issue as a labor dispute, and our position remains the same today."

Last year's event included a five-day march that began in Pahokee in western Palm Beach County, with farmworkers and supporters making the trek east to Palm Beach.

This year's festival begins Friday, as coalition members and farmworkers plan to carry a 16-foot farmworker puppet named Esperanza through Midtown. The group will meet at 340 S. County Road, near Town Hall, and then drive Esperanza to several points of interest in town, where members and farmworkers will hand out flyers for Saturday's event.

Saturday's event is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Bradley Park on the north side of Royal Poinciana Way just east of the Flagler Memorial Bridge. The waterfront park will host a lineup of musical acts from 2 to 7 p.m., with bands including Malacates Trebol Shop, Olmeca, Rara Lakay, Bomba and Illusion 711.

The coalition on Saturday will have its Modern-Day Slavery Museum at Bradley Park. The mobile exhibit documents the history of forced labor in Florida agriculture, the group said. Items include photos, reporting and artifacts from lawsuits filed by the coalition since 1990 over forced-labor conditions. Esperanza will be at the park as well, and there will be street theater performances by farmworkers, the news release said.

While the group does not have a permit for Saturday's event at Bradley Park — it would have conflicted with a town ordinance on how many events can be held at the park — the event constitutes First Amendment-protected activity that the town's police department has worked closely to coordinate with organizers over the past few months, Palm Beach police spokesman Capt. Will Rothrock told the Daily News.

On Sunday, the group has asked attendees to meet at Bradley Park at 9:30 a.m., where shuttles will take them to the small park at the intersection of Tangier Avenue and North County Road — across the street from the beachfront mansion owned by Peltz.

“These are exciting times for farmworkers,” coalition co-founder Lucas Benitez said in the news release. “As the Fair Food Program goes global, we are laser-focused on telling Nelson Peltz: Now is the time to do right by those whose hard work makes your profits possible. Now is the time to join the FFP.”

Traffic impacts

While there may be some traffic impacts, there will not be as many as in previous years because Friday's attendees will be on the sidewalk, not in the street, Rothrock said.

Friday: Expect congestion from about noon to 5 p.m. in the Midtown area, with rally stops expected at the Memorial Fountain and Park, Midtown Beach and Worth Avenue.

Saturday: Expect congestion from about 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the area of Bradley Park, just east of the Flagler Memorial Bridge.

Sunday: Traffic slowdowns could be from about 8 a.m. to noon around Bradley Park.

While any traffic effects from the event should be minor, drivers should choose alternative routes, police said in a Thursday afternoon alert to town residents.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Farmworkers bring three-day workers' rights festival to Palm Beach