The Taco Bell boycott that made its way to The University ofMemphis two years ago is still gaining momentum with local andnational recognition.
The boycott started to support underpaid migrant farm workerswho pick tomatoes for a company in Immokalee, Fla., that suppliesthem to Taco Bell, the No. 1 buyer of Florida tomatoes, accordingto the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center winter 2004newsletter.
The boycott, which was launched April 1, 2001, by the Coalitionof Immigrant Workers, has reached several college campuses acrossthe country, causing numerous student activists and organizationsto protest at on-campus Taco Bells, asking for their removal.
The Tiger Den Taco Bell closed in 2002, although the reportedreason was that Taco Bell's corporate vision did not fit with TheUniversity. It wasn't clear whether protesting students hadanything to do with the removal.
Although freshman recording technology major Kyle Ferell was nota student at The U of M when campus activists protested Taco Bell,he supports the idea all the same.
"I support (the boycott) because people should get an equal payfor their labor," he said.
Sophomore music business major Sarah Hataway doesn't thinkworkers should be treated unfairly, but she also understands thefinancial aspects of their situations.
"If that's what they have to do to get paid, then that's whatthey have to do," Hataway said.
As of March 2003, 17 college campuses had declared themselves"Taco Bell-free zones," and more than 75 solidarity actions hadbeen reported to the group's headquarters in Immokalee, Fla.,According to the Coalition Web site, www.ciw-online.org,
Included in the national list of protesters are students fromMiddle Tennessee State University and several people fromNashville, Knoxville and numerous cities in Georgia andFlorida.
The protest made its way to Memphis in October 2001, andstudents at The U of M added their names to the list of boycottersin February 2002, when several U of M students led acoalition-sponsored protest at the Taco Bell at Poplar andBelvedere. The U of M Women's Action Coalition also led a protestagainst Taco Bell the following semester, in September 2002,outside the Tiger Den, where Taco Bell was formerly located.
Whether the removal of Taco Bell from the Tiger Den had anythingto do with the boycott is not certain, said Chuck Wigington, U of Mfood services director.
"It was a mutual decision" between The University and Taco Bellto remove the restaurant. The requests from the franchise toremodel Taco Bell conflicted with the restaurant's budget,Wigington said.
