Food Access

RSS

Food Access, Food Safety, Packing and Processing, Press Releases, Retail, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

UFCW Joins BlueGreen Alliance

Jan 14, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 13, 2011) Citing the need to grow a supply chain that protects public health, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and ensures good jobs, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) today announced that the union — whose 1.3 million members work in the retail food, meatpacking and poultry, food processing and manufacturing, and retail industries — would join the BlueGreen Alliance, a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations working to expand the number and quality of jobs in the green economy.

“”From farm to dinner table, we must have a food supply chain that benefits consumers, improves public health, improves the environment, and creates good jobs at living wages,”" said UFCW International President Joseph T. Hansen. “”The BlueGreen Alliance is leading the way to a green economy, and UFCW is proud to be on board.”"

“”We are pleased to welcome the UFCW to the ranks of union members and environmentalists working to build a green economy and create good jobs,”" said BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director David Foster. “”We cannot build this green economy — one that creates good jobs and protects public health — without creating a stronger, greener food and retail supply chain, and we are excited to get to work with the UFCW to make it happen.”"

The 1.3-million member UFCW has long supported strong food safety and nutrition policy and is committed to ensuring that our nation’s food and retail supply chain is safe and sustainable — from the factory to the warehouse to the store — and to holding suppliers accountable for their efforts to green up their supply chain.

“”Supporting the development of a greener supply chain is an important factor in protecting the health and safety of American consumers and the quality of life for workers,”" said Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen. “”We also have to work together to ensure the jobs created and supported are good, family supporting union jobs. We are pleased that the UFCW has joined this unique partnership in our effort to build a truly green economy.”"

“”Creating a sustainable food supply will protect the environment while providing healthy safe food for all Americans,”" said Peter Lehner, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “”With the UFCW joining the BlueGreen Alliance, our on-going effort to green America’s supply chain and create good, clean, and safe jobs is a million members stronger today.”"

The BlueGreen Alliance was launched by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club in 2006, and has since expanded to include the Communications Workers of America, Natural Resources Defense Council, Service

Employees International Union, National Wildlife Federation, Laborers’ International Union of North America, Union of Concerned Scientists, Utility Workers Union of America, American Federation of Teachers, Amalgamated Transit Union, Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association, United Auto Workers and the United Food and Commercial Workers — all dedicated to creating good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy.

“”The effort to create good, green jobs reaches every corner of our economy — from investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency to building more efficient vehicles to ensuring a safe, sustainable food supply,”" said USW International President Leo W. Gerard, a co-founder of the BlueGreen Alliance. “”The health and safety of workers, our public health and the health of our communities depend on our ability to build a prosperous green economy in the United States.”"

“”We can only protect the planet for the next generation if we make our economy cleaner and more sustainable, and a key part of that accomplishment will be greening our food and retail supply chain,”" said Carl Pope, Chairman of the Sierra Club and a co-founder of the BlueGreen Alliance. “”From the field to the grocery store, from the factory to retail, ensuring that the products we buy are sustainable will protect the environment and create good jobs, plain and simple.”"

Community Partnerships, Economic Justice, Food Access, Food Safety, Press Releases, Retail Food, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values

FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS JOIN NATIONAL EFFORT TO BRING FRESH FOOD AND GOOD JOBS TO FOOD DESERT NEIGHBORHOODS

Apr 12, 2010

(NEW YORK, NY) – The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) proudly announces its support for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative legislation introduced today by New York legislators Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez (D-NY).

The legislation will provide $1 billion through loans and grants to help build approximately 2,100 new grocery stores in high need areas across the country, including an estimated 273 stores in New York City. The initiative would create an estimated 200,000 new jobs nationally.

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative is a critical part of rejuvenating and revitalizing underserved neighborhoods both in terms of food quality and quality jobs that can support a family.

New York-based UFCW Local 1500 is a leading partner in the New York FRESH Initiative which serves as a model for the national legislation and has successfully launched two major supermarkets into previously underserved areas in the Bronx.  Those supermarkets also added hundreds of new jobs and subsequent income to area residents.

Supermarkets act as anchors for economic development in a neighborhood.  In community after community, good supermarket jobs provide workers with good wages, career opportunities and most importantly, quality health care coverage that is key to a healthy lifestyle.   UFCW members in New York and across the U.S. take pride in serving their customers with good food.   This national legislation will provide needed funding to expand those opportunities into even more markets.

The UFCW applauds Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Velasquez for their vision in bringing worker organizations together with the economic development leaders and health policy advocates to ensure that new food outlets also provide good career jobs and training opportunities for new employees.

We believe that working together works.  With the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, we will:

  • Create new jobs from building new supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods;
  • Create new jobs from operating those stores; and
  • Create new jobs from related development which will grow up and around the new stores.

All the while, providing millions of residents with access to good, healthy, affordable food.

Community Partnerships, Feeding the Hungry, Food Access, Press Releases, UFCW Values

UFCW and Smithfield Foods Launch Feed the Hungry Program

Nov 09, 2009

The UFCW and Smithfield Foods are launching a joint Feed the Hungry Program today in New York City to bring much needed assistance to the growing number of people facing hunger and food insecurity in our communities. The project will help deliver more than one million servings of protein to the Food Bank of New York City.

Today’s kick-off event is the first in a multi-city tour across America that will reach from coast-to-coast. The UFCW and Smithfield plan to donate at least 20 million servings of food to a local food bank at each of the scheduled stops.

The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that more than 36 million people in the United States, including 12.6 million children, live in households considered to be food insecure. That is more than 1 in 10 households who experience hunger or the risk of hunger.

The UFCW is committed to ensuring that families across the country have the relief and the opportunities they need to weather the current economic crises. All across the country UFCW members are on the frontlines of efforts to improve and strengthen their communities, and this partnership reflects their unwavering commitment to protect and advocate for families during tough times.

This partnership is about bringing together organizations, including our represented grocery stores, with the resources, the relationships and the know-how to ensure that vulnerable communities across the country have access to well-supplied food banks. Our goal is simple: Get good, nutritious food to as many families, in as many communities, as possible.