FOOD JUSTICE

The Campaign for Liquor Licensing Responsibility (CLLR, pronounced ‘Clear’) is a united effort that brings together everyday people, grassroots organizations, and faith-based institutions to build support to reform our liquor licensing laws. We’re fighting to make sure that corporations with the privilege of a liquor license – liquor stores, adult entertainment venues, bars, and restaurants – do not continue to hurt our communities. Too many of these corporations sell rotten or expired food to us and our children. Too many of these corporations steal our wages and abuse us when we work there. We know that many times these corporations mistreat communities where they think they can get away with it – working class communities, immigrant communities, and communities of color.We know this is not fair. We envision a healthy community where corporations with liquor licenses play by the rules, just like everyone else. We believe that a liquor license is a privilege that should not be abused. The Campaign for Liquor Licensing Responsibility will make sure that corporations with the privilege of a liquor license do not abuse our families and communities by: Allowing the City of Detroit to consider a corporation’s record on compliance with sanitation, public health, as well as minimum wage, overtime, and discrimination laws, when deciding whether to grant or renew that corporation’s liquor license.

Maybe you’ve had to drive far or take the bus to buy healthy food for your family because your neighborhood store sells unsafe foods. Maybe you’ve worked in a restaurant and had your wages stolen. Maybe you’re a small business owner and are tired of seeing your competition with lower costs than you
because they refuse to follow the law. Maybe you’re someone who believes that we all have a stake in making sure that things like this do not continue to happen to our neighbors.

This campaign is all of these stories and more. This campaign is your story. We need this change now more than ever. We will ask Detroit City Council to meet with the MOSES Food Justice Taskforce and Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) members and other coalition partners to draft an ordinance that address these concerns and hold liquor stores accountable.