Justice and Jobs
Nearly every time we talk sugar reform, two points land with the greatest force.
The first point has to do with the unjust and hypocritical approach to sugarcane burning in south Florida. According to state policy, when the wind blows toward the largely Black communities of the Glades, the industry can burn. But when the wind blows toward Wellington and Palm Beach — which happen to count among the most expensive zip codes in America — the state prevents the industry from burning.
Investigative journalist Sandy Tolan puts his finger on this injustice in new reporting for the Public Radio Exchange. The story's most powerful moment comes when Sandy talks to State Representative Rick Roth, a sugarcane grower. When asked why the industry is allowed to burn when the wind blows in one direction but not the other, Roth attempts several non-answers before admitting that indeed, he has no answer — and then changing the subject.
The second forceful point has to do with jobs. Big Sugar says the Glades communities depend on them for jobs. When Big Sugar argues for supporting the sugar program in the farm bill, these jobs are used as a threat: you cut our benefits, we cut jobs. What the industry doesn't say is that if they were to switch from burning sugarcane to a "green harvest" that makes use of cane waste to create biofuels, more jobs would flow to the industry and to the communities they surround. Economic analysis backs up this point.