No Taxpayer Charity for FreshDirect!
In a world of food deserts, FreshDirect is a company that specializes in trucking fresh fruits and vegetables into affluent communities--that already have great access to fresh, nutritious food. FreshDirect does not accept SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) or Women, Infants and Children benefits which feed 66 percent of families in the south Bronx.
Now New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. have teamed up to give FreshDirect $129 million in tax exemptions and direct subsidies.
Meanwhile, FreshDirect pays its workers about $9 an hour and has blocked employee initiatives to unionize, according to a recent article in Alternet.
Tell Cuomo and company not to subsidize FreshDirect with taxpayer subsidies until the company has a presence in New York's poorer neighborhoods and treats its employees better!
We the undersigned respectfully request that you desist from handing out taxpayer charity to FreshDirect. Not only does this company snub the poorest communities--where its fresh produce on wheels is most badly needed--it also pays its employees only $9 an hour. That is not a living wage in the affluent New York metropolitan communities that FreshDirect serves. Please rethink the $120 million tax break and subsidy package you are getting ready to hand this company.
