Here are the players in the drama:

• Fast food chains (Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, etc.) are America’s top buyer of tomatoes, largely from Florida.
• Migrant workers (most of them illegal) pick the vast majority of Florida tomatoes.
• The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (hereinafter “Big Tomato”) represents and negotiates on behalf of 90% of Florida’s tomato growers.

Here’s how the drama has unfolded thus far:

• In 2005 Taco Bell ended a consumer boycott by agreeing to pay an extra penny a pound for its tomatoes, with that penny going directly to farm workers.
• In April, McDonald’s agreed to do the same.  The extra penny per pound increased farm worker wages by about 70%.
• Now, Burger King has refused to pay the extra penny per pound.
• In response, Big Tomato has refused to allow any of its members collect the extra penny per pound from any customers, effectively reversing the earlier agreements with Taco Bell and McDonald’s.
• In response to Burger King’s role in the drama, many people and groups are boycotting Burger King or calling for boycotts of Burger King.

There are the facts, and here’s the analysis.

• I’d boycott BK over this issue except that I don’t like Burger King and hardly ever go there (maybe once per year with the kids as a change of pace).  So I guess when August rolls around and the kids ask to go to Burger King I’ll tell them no.  But I don’t think my principled stand will affect the bottom line of Burger King Corporation.
• Which brings me to this: Burger King Corporation (BKC) is a publicly traded company.  Surely a massive nationwide consumer boycott is bad for short-term revenue, bad for long-term PR and brand value, etc., right?  BKC stock is up more than 30% this year, from less than $21 per share in January to currently more than $28 per share.  So it looks like the consumer boycott isn’t working.
• If Big Tomato wants an extra penny per pound for its workers, it can refuse to sell at a lower price to companies like Burger King.  If BK has a contract in place at the current rate, Big Tomato can charge the higher rate for the next contract.  BK may refuse to pay the higher rate and instead sources its tomatoes elsewhere, or it may pay the higher rate and stay with Big Tomato.
• If individual growers want that extra penny per pound for its workers and Big Tomato won’t let them, they can withdraw from Big Tomato and negotiate prices on their own.  Tough to do since individual growers have little leverage since each grower is such a small percentage of the fast food chains’ tomato needs, so they’d likely need to find new customers for their produce.
• If workers want the extra penny per pound in their wages, they can go work elsewhere or they can go on strike, just like any other employee in any other job.

So it’s not easy for workers to create change, and it’s not easy for growers to create change, and it’s not easy for Big Tomato to change, and BK seems uninterested in changing.

So, as is often the case, it comes down to the consumers.  In a country full of fast food options, the consumer has an easy choice: if you really care about this issue, don’t eat at Burger King.