Some students at Sacramento State are supporting a nation-wide boycott of Taco Bell because the company’s subsidiary buys tomatoes from farms in Immokalee, Fla., where advocates said workers suffer humiliating and inhumane conditions.

The Sac State chapter of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztan has agreed to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in its fight to improve the wages and conditions of farm workers in Florida.

The coalition argues that Taco Bell and the company’s subsidiary, Yum! Brands, Inc., directly profits from the poverty and substandard conditions of farm workers.

According to the coalition’s Web site, Taco Bell pays artificially low prices for the tomatoes that Immokalee farm workers pick, and the exploitation of farm labor in the production chain keeps these prices low.

Olgalilia Ramirez, MEChA external chairwoman and a senior sociology major, said the purpose of the boycott is to pressure Yum! Brands, Inc. to accept a small increase in the price in tomatoes so farmers can pay their workers a living wage.

“They are exploiting their workers,” Ramirez said. “Basically, they don’t get benefits, they don’t get fair wages, they don’t get breaks and (farmers) are breaking labor laws.”

MEChA activists said tomato growers have been paid 40 to 50 cents per bucket for over 20 years and that a grower would have to pick two tons of tomatoes to make $50 in a day.

“They just have to raise it by half a cent. It’s not a lot, but it will be better once we get it,” said Andres Alvarez, MEChA educational chairman and a sophomore art education major.

Ramirez said the reason it chose to boycott Taco Bell and not other companies is because Taco Bell is the main buyer of these tomatoes. According to the coalition’s Web site, Yum! Brands, Inc. is the world’s largest restaurant company.

Yum! Brands, Inc. said in a press release that Taco Bell buys the smallest amount of Florida tomatoes of any fast food restaurant company and that all of its national competitors and supermarkets buy more of the product than it does.

In the press release, Yum! Brands, Inc. also said Taco Bell is paying 11 cents more for its tomatoes than it did when the boycott started in 2000, which it said far increases the 1 cent per pound increase that the coalition demanded.

The company stated that it is willing to compromise with the coalition and participate in an industry-wide penny a pound surcharge, if all buyers of the tomatoes agree to the same circumstances.

Yum! Brands, Inc. CEO David C. Novak said in a press release that the company would also be willing to help lobby for changes in Florida labor laws and seek ways to improve working conditions if the coalition agreed to end the boycott.

Consumers of the Taco Bell on campus at the Riverfront Center said they were unaware of the boycott, but the information made them think before buying their food next time.

“If you know what’s going on behind the scenes, then maybe it would make you think differently about certain things,” said James Payne, a senior communications major.

Stephanie Ewing, Sacramento State Dining Services spokeswoman and registered dietitian, said that Dining Services was unaware of the boycott and that it has not seen any recent drop in sales at Taco Bell.

“Our mission is to provide services that meet the needs of our consumers and we believe that every customer has a choice. If they choose not to eat Taco Bell, there are places to choose from,” Ewing said.

Jeanett Mulder, a junior French major, said that there are not many choices when it comes to affordable dining on campus.

“I would not eat Taco Bell, but it is the cheapest place here and I’m broke,” Mulder said. “I wish we had more options but there is really not that much to choose from.”

Ramirez said that right now MEChA is not looking to remove Taco Bell from campus and they have not yet asked for support from Associated Students. MEChA’s main goal, Ramirez said, is to bring awareness to the issue and educate students.

“We haven’t hit up ASI at all, but that is probably something we will look to in the future,” Ramirez said.

Ewing said that Dining Services does not have the ability to remove Taco Bell from campus, as Sac State has a contract with the company.