Good afternoon. I thank the American Bar Association’s Committee on Derivatives and Futures Law for inviting me to speak today. This morning, I visited some friends that I made a couple years ago in Immokalee, which is about an hour east of here. Immokalee is Florida’s largest farm working community. About 95 percent of the tomatoes you eat in the United States between October and June come from Florida, with many of them grown in Immokalee.
The migrant workers who pick and package the tomatoes earn less in a year than what some in this room may bill in a day. They sleep in metal trailers with up to ten other workers, hoping that each morning they will be selected to go into the field and earn a little money. A couple of years ago, I met the people of Immokalee and was asked to help in their efforts for better wages and working conditions. It might not sound like much, but together we negotiated an additional penny per pound for tomatoes sold to Burger King. Still, they have struggled day after day to support themselves and their families.
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