Ah, nothing like eating lunch at your desk because you're too busy to stop working. Before you wring your hands in pity at my plight, remember that after two weeks of having too much down time, it is nice to be neck-deep in the action again.

Some of you may remember my post from February 3, highlighting the Presbyterian Church's boycott of Taco Bell because of their refusal to negotiate with tomato pickers in Florida. Well, Taco Bells everywhere are clanging joyfully because the boycott is over!! In what has been termed an historic agreement for farmworkers advocating for human rights, Taco Bell's parent company, Yum! Brands, agreed this week to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to push for reforms in the condition of Florida tomato pickers.

First, Taco Bell has reached an agreement with its suppliers to pay a penny per pound more for tomatos, an increase that will go directly to the wages of farm workers. Taco Bell now won't do business with tomato suppliers that refuse to pass on the increase, and will work with CIW to make sure that the increase indeed goes to the workers. Yum! Brands will also lead efforts in the fast food industry to push for legislative reform in Florida regarding the conditions under which the tomato pickers work. So the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has called off the three-year boycott of Taco Bell.

The "Truth Tour" vigil at Yum! Brands that was to take place in Louisville this weekend will now be replaced by a celebration here at the Presbyterian Center, the National Gathering for Fair Food and Justice. And guess who's going to speak at this celebration-- Martin Sheen! Okay, so granted, I don't watch the West Wing, but I thought he was really good as Robert E. Lee in Gettysburg. This won't be as exciting as the time last year when I saw Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst filming Elizabethtown in a back alley of downtown Louisville, but Martin Sheen isn't too bad. Plus, I'm glad he supports CIW.

So for all of you who have faithfully abstained from your Taco Bell burrito for the past three years, I say this: Stop what you're doing right now, go to the local Taco Bell, and chow down, knowing that your boycotting efforts really did make a difference.

"You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever." --Psalm 30:11-12

Kelsey