Taco Bell boycott report suggests ‘victory’ may be near
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, May 10, 2004
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – To hear Gary Cook’s report on the denomination’s boycott of Taco Bell, you might think the denomination is about to declare victory against YUM!, the parent company of the fast-food chain.
Cook, an employee in the Presbyterian Hunger Program, gave his version of the success of the boycott in a report to the General Assembly’s executive committee on May 8. Some of the Hunger Program funds are being used to finance the PCUSA boycott of Taco Bell, which buys hand-picked tomatoes from contractors who allegedly mistreat their workers and pay them too little.
Cook began his assessment with some caveats. “We have no way of measuring how many Presbyterians are eating at Taco Bell,” he said. “We have no way of measuring the number of letters that have been generated to Taco Bell.
“The impact on Taco Bell?,” he asked rhetorically. “We have not caused anyone to be laid off. But we’re bringing the YUM! Corporation to the table to begin discussions with the Immokalee workers.”
Cook said the talks included Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, representatives of the Coalition of Immolakee Workers (CIW) and YUM! management.
YUM! is headquartered in Louisville, also the home city of the denomination, so it’s a local phone call for Kirkpatrick, one of the PCUSA’s most enthusiastic advocates of the boycott, to ask for a meeting with a YUM! boss.
And how are the talks going? “Those discussions are ongoing,” Cook reported. “Unfortunately, that’s the only adjective they will let me use.”
But he said the denomination’s support for the tomato-picking union had roused allies from other mainline groups, including the United Methodist Church and the National Council of Churches, the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ, as well as the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
Asked if any of those organizations were going to help the PCUSA bear some of the costs of the national boycott, Cook said they were using the PCUSA’s resources, including material available on the PCUSA’s boycott Web site.
While acknowledging that the boycott apparently hasn’t caused Taco Bell any financial problems, Cook said, “A boycott in today’s economy has more to do with corporate image. The impact can be weighed in terms of how the YUM! company has responded and the impact on our ecumenical partners. We’re now in much stronger ecumenical company.”
Besides, he said, presbytery groups have taken the campaign to heart. He said some youth groups are making their own tacos rather than buying them at Taco Bell. And Presbyterians have provided housing and shoes for Immolakee workers who staged protest marches and “truth” tours.
Cook passed out a written report from the Rev. Noelle Damico, coordinator of the Presbyterian Hunger Program. The report condemned treatment of Immolakee workers.
“As we approach the two-year mark, I can testify that the boycott and the accompanying praying, letter-writing and protesting have made a tremendous difference,” Damico said. “The active participation of congregations and people of all ages has sent a strong signal to YUM! and CIW representatives.”
Damico said the “high-level” talks with YUM! officials as “a sign of increased seriousness by the company, which previously had adamantly denied any responsibility whatsoever for benefiting from the well-documented exploitation.”