No U.S. aid for tomato growers Efforts to compensate tomato growers ...

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No U.S. aid for tomato growers

Efforts to compensate tomato growers for damages related to thesalmonella outbreak fell short in Washington. Florida tomatogrowers and packers like Billy Don Grant are going to have keepdreaming about any compensation from the federal government tooffset the millions they lost due to this summer's salmonellaoutbreak.

While Congress was busy bailing out the financial servicesindustry, efforts to seek compensation for the tomato growers died,at least for this year and potentially for good, during the closingweeks of the session. Growers in Florida estimate they lost atleast $60 million, and nationally that number is estimated at $140million or more.

"This was outside of our control and we had nothing to do with it",said Grant, whose North Florida packing houses and farmingoperation lost about $12 million. "It's just not fair. We weredevastated because they made a mistake. What we're asking for is aminimal amount of money compared to the hundreds of millions thatthey've given other farming entities.''

Grant and others in North Florida were among the hardest hit ofFlorida's tomato growers because their June season coincided withthe time tomatoes from Florida were scrutinized as a potentialcause of the largest salmonella outbreak in the last decade.Ultimately, laboratory tests found links to Mexican peppers, butfederal officials have refused to exonerate tomatoes from Floridaor anywhere else.

U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens, with the support ofother Florida Democrats including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz ofWeston, introduced a bill seeking $100 million in emergencyfinancial assistance for the tomato industry. But the bill nevermade it out of the House Agriculture Committee and never got acompanion bill in the Senate.

In the waning days of the session, there was an attempt to add thegrowers assistance into the massive Congressional Appropriationsbill that provides ongoing funding for all government activitiesthrough the end of the year. But that ran into a roadblock from oneor more senators who have been critical of the Florida tomatogrowers because of their refusal to support worker compensationagreements reached between fast-food chains and the Coalition ofImmokalee Workers.

The agreements typically call for workers to earn an additionalpenny per pound for the tomatoes they pick, money that would bepaid by the fast-food chains. But the growers have refused toparticipate in those agreements, and without their participationthe deals have not been implemented.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt., made it known that he wouldn'tsupport any legislation that included compensation for the tomatogrowers because of the conflict over worker wages. Michael Briggs,a spokesman for Sanders, said the senator felt the Florida TomatoGrowers Exchange came to Washington for a "government handout.''''Sen. Sanders is less than sympathetic to bailing out an industrywhich pays its workers abysmal wages, has been involved in a numberof cases of human slavery and continues to adamantly oppose allefforts to improve the lives of some of the most exploited workersin America,'' Briggs said in a statement. "The Florida TomatoGrowers Exchange needs to clean up its house before it asks for ataxpayer bailout.''

Although Sanders' objections weren't the only issue, it certainlymay have been a final straw at a time when Congressional leaderscouldn't afford to let major legislation get bogged down inextraneous debate. A spokeswoman for the Coalition for ImmokaleeWorkers did not respond Wednesday afternoon to a request forcomment. The point Sanders and others may have missed is thatFlorida growers would have received only a portion of the $100million in compensation that would have also gone to growers inGeorgia, South Carolina, California and beyond.

Also, even within Florida the growers who would have received thecompensation are not located in the Immokalee area because thosefarms were already long finished with their growing season when thesalmonella scare hit.

''It's sad that they've linked a labor dispute from a group thatdoesn't represent a majority of the workers and allowed them toovershadow a major screw-up by the federal government that harmedan entire industry,'' said Bob Spencer of West Coast Tomato inPalmetto. "It's typical Congress. Politicians just love tograndstand. We're not going to sit around waiting on them. We'rejust going to go back to work and try to survive as an industry.''

Mahoney still holds out hope of trying again for the growers, aslong as he is reelected in November. ''I was disappointed that ourefforts to get tomato growers compensated for their losses did notsucceed this session,'' Mahoney said in a statement. "I will workwith my colleagues next session to reintroduce legislation so thatwe can preserve jobs in this industry, which are critical forFlorida's economy.''

Source: miamiherald.com



Publication date: 10/10/2008