Today is ‘A Day Without Immigrants' — a day of organized protests across the country to call for immigration reform. This campaign encourages immigrants to stop their production and consumption activities on that day to build awareness and political pressure. In support of our employees, Santé Nuts will be closed today.
Why is this important to Santé?
Immigrants play an essential role in food production and manufacturing. In the US, about 14% of the total population are immigrants. In food production jobs, 27% of workers are immigrants. Across California, nearly 70% of agriculture workers are immigrants. At Santé, about 90% of our team are immigrants. When we say Santé Nuts are 'Crafted with Care,' it doesn’t just refer to the quality of our products, but also the responsibility we have to our employees.
Noa Tidhar, COO at Santé Nuts, explains our company's stance:
In 1991 our family immigrated to the US. It was a monumental decision for our parents who wanted to raise their children in a safer place with better opportunities. My brother and I, aged 4 and 7 at the time, had to switch languages, schools, cultures, apartments, and friends all at once. It took us years to be proficient in English and in that time, we both felt a little adrift. We missed everything about home — the food, the beaches, and most of all, our family.
Despite the challenges, my brother and I both feel incredibly fortunate to have grown up in the Bay Area. Our lives resembled those of hundreds of thousands of kids in California. We had the freedom to explore our passions and ultimately pursue careers that felt meaningful to us. Immigrating helped make us the people we are today, and we're both so grateful for it. Our family was one of the lucky ones.
The National Day Without Immigrants protest serves to remind us that many families aren't as fortunate as ours. Immigrants from all over the world come to the US to try to find better opportunities and better circumstances for themselves and their children. Every day running Santé Nuts, I'm grateful to our employees who work so incredibly hard to help us make delicious products and run a successful business. Around 90% of our employees are immigrants and they deserve to be heard.
On Monday, February 14th, Santé Nuts will be closed. We will not produce any product, make any purchases, or sell any nuts. We will pay our workforce to stay home and protest if they choose. We will take this opportunity to be grateful for the chances we've been given and the people we are fortunate enough to work with. We will do what we believe in, because we're lucky enough to be able to.
We believe this country wouldn’t be the same without the people living in it. Immigration is a backbone in our economy and in our lives. We believe everyone should be treated with dignity and respect and we strive to do that every day at Santé.
