Here's a toast to NNPCW members Kelli Houpt and Dee Darden, who have taken the plunge to get involved with the Taco Bell Boycott! Yay Kelli! Yay Dee!

You might be asking "What have they done to get all this attention?" Well, they have agreed to help out with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Truth Tour as it passes through Tallahassee, Florida and Montgomery, Alabama. The point of the Truth Tour is to gain support and recognition for CIW's boycott of Taco Bell. The tour starts in Immokalee, Florida, and ends in Louisville, Kentucky, where Taco Bell's parent company, Yum! Brands, is located. On March 12, CIW will hold a rally at Yum! Brands. I hope to attend :).

And now you're wondering why we're picking on the home of everyone's favorite 99 cent taco. The reason is this-- your taco contains tomatoes in it that Taco Bell gets from a supplier. That supplier pays its workers in Immokalee, Florida 40-45 cents for every 32 pound bucket of tomatoes picked. For a worker to make $50 (something that I made in less than five hours on my college summer job giving tours at a dam), they have to pick two tons of tomatoes. The workers' wages haven't budged in over 20 years. Many of you weren't even born the last time these people got a raise.

Back in 2000, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers asked Taco Bell to put pressure on its suppliers to do something about this. After all, Taco Bell is a national chain, and it has a lot more clout than a bunch of workers who are only making $7500 a year on average. What did Taco Bell say? Absolutely nothing. They didn't even return the phone calls. That's when CIW called for a consumer boycott of Taco Bell-- if Taco Bell puts pressure on its suppliers, and agrees to pay the suppliers a bit more for its tomatoes, then these workers can get a decent wage. But Taco Bell needs some pressure from us, its customers, first.

Remember that 99 cent taco? Would it really be so bad if that taco cost, say, $1.25? Especially if you knew that the workers contributing to the taco could feed their own families for with your extra few cents?

Now, in 2002 the Presbyterian Church (USA) endorsed the boycott because of its belief that all people deserve dignity and a fair living wage for their work. But we're not the only ones-- if you're United Methodist, United Church of Christ, or Disciples of Christ, your denominations have signed on, too. There are a number of other groups that are part of the boycott as well, including universities.

The Truth Tour that Kelli and Dee are taking part in will stop in a number of cities throughout the South and Midwest, including Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Birmingham, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. If you want more info about the boycott or the tour, go to the PC(USA)'s boycott website at http://www.pcusa.org/boycott. If you, your women's group, or campus ministry would like to participate, e-mail Noelle Damico at boycott@pcusa.org.

And whether you get more involved or not, think twice next time you get a craving at 2 am about going to Taco Bell. Your decision really can make a difference!

"God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" --Micah 6:8

Kelsey