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Article

7 May 2008

Author:
[opinion] Eric Schlosser, author of 'Fast Food Nation', in New York Times

Burger With a Side of Spies [USA]

The Student/Farmworker Alliance and...the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, have for years been urging the fast-food industry to accept some responsibility for the plight of Florida migrants who harvest the tomatoes for its hamburgers and tacos... In March, a woman named Cara Schaffer contacted the Student/Farmworker Alliance, saying she was a student at Broward Community College... Ms. Schaffer is the...owner of a private security firm...Diplomatic Tactical Services... [A] Burger King executive told me that the company had worked with Diplomatic Tactical Services for years on “security-related matters” and had used it to obtain information about the Student/Farmworker Alliance’s plans — in order to prevent acts of violence... But the Student/Farmworker Alliance and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are not dangerous, extremist groups. Both are pacifist, mainstream nonprofits... I’ve come to believe that we now need a similar set of restrictions [to those the Bill of Rights places on government power] to defend against irresponsible corporate power... Unlike government agencies...private firms operate with a remarkable degree of freedom. [also refers to surveillance by HP, Wal-Mart]