TOMORROW: Send a Fair Food Valentine to Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor!

Yesterday, farmworker mothers and their children kicked off the national Valentine’s Day of Action in Immokalee by crafting dozens of heart-shaped boycott messages and an oversized Fair Food Valentine to drop in the mail for Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor. Before leaving their cards at the post office, the spirited group headed over to the Wendy’s restaurant in town to make sure the local manager, too, was made aware of the burgeoning national boycott. Once inside, however, they were given the cold shoulder. 

Speaking of frosty... it’s no secret that Wendy’s spends millions trying to convince consumers that what sets them apart from those “Othr Guyz” — a thinly-veiled identity Wendy’s created with reference to competitors like McDonald’s and Burger King — is their fresh, never frozen beef. But how does Wendy’s stack up against those same competitors when it comes to human rights violations in their supply chain? 

In case you missed it, CIW brilliantly exposes this stone-cold contradiction in a must-see, 30-second adbust of Wendy’s Super Bowl commercial, which has racked up a whopping 17,000 views since the big game. With the same $5 million Wendy's spent on half a minute of airtime, they could have funded at least five years of fairer wages and dignified working conditions for farmworkers through their participation in the Fair Food Program.

This Valentine’s Day, join the Fair Food Nation in letting Mr. Penegor know that we’re not buying any of it — literally. For inspiration in crafting your Valentine to Wendy’s top executive, check out these creative action resources. Be sure to take a picture with your V-Day card and upload it to social media using #BoycottWendys and tagging @Wendys before you mail it to Mr. Penegor: 

Mr. Todd A. Penegor
The Wendy’s Company, Inc. 
One Dave Thomas Boulevard
Dublin, OH 43017

And send us a report of how things went at organize@allianceforfairfood.org!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Return to Human Rights Tour website is live – register today to join CIW at a major tour stop!

The Return to Human Rights Tour is less than two months away! As the 14-day, 10-city tour approaches, Immokalee becomes an ever-busier hub of planning, organizing and art-making. Just yesterday, farmworkers gathered for February’s “Comité Central” worker meeting in Immokalee to escalate organizing in the community in the lead-up to the tour. Across the country, advance organizing teams are settling in for weeks of nonstop presentations and meetings, spreading news of the Wendy’s Boycott and fueling the growing excitement for next month’s action. 

Allies are mobilizing their congregations, campuses, communities and Fair Food Groups nationwide to converge in Columbus, OH – Wendy’s hometown – for the tour’s culminating weekend of action on March 24-26, including a powerful vigil at Wendy’s headquarters and a lively human rights parade in downtown Columbus! In Florida, allies are additionally organizing for the tour’s finale: a march and vigil in downtown Tampa, FL on March 29 calling on both Publix and Wendy’s to end their disregard for farmworkers' human rights. 

Check out the Wendy’s Boycott website for the tour’s full schedule and register TODAY to join farmworkers on this historic tour! Keep an eye on it in the weeks ahead, as we update it with more opportunities to support the tour and the Wendy’s Boycott.

If you’re interested in joining an existing caravan, bus, or carpool – or planning your own! – to take action in a major tour stop, get in touch at organize@allianceforfairfood.org.

And after you’ve done that, head over to the CIW’s website to read more on farmworkers’ own rendition of Wendy’s Super Bowl 2017 commercial – a $5 million expense that could have funded more than five years of the company’s participation in the Fair Food Program. In less than 24 hours, the Fair Food Nation’s spoof has racked up over 7,000 views and hundreds of shares. Help us make it go viral, as we prepare to unfreeze Wendy's frosty heart right in the company's hometown in March!

Call-in Day: Give Todd Penegor, CEO a ring on Feb. 1 to demand that Wendy’s respect farmworkers' human rights!

Next Wednesday, February 1, our network will be taking action in the lead up to the Return to Human Rights Tour and major Columbus mobilization March 24-26 with a national call-in day to Wendy’s headquarters! Call Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor to remind Wendy’s top executives and key decision-makers of the Fair Food Nation’s commitment to boycott the fast food holdout until they take responsibility for human rights abuses in their supply chain.

For far too long, Wendy’s has hidden behind its empty, toothless Supplier Code of Conduct. Unlike the Fair Food Program, Wendy's standards, set forth in the code, lack effective mechanisms for worker participation and enforcement. To avoid farmworker and consumer calls for justice, Wendy’s fled to an industry in Mexico where workers continue to confront wage theft, sexual harassment, child labor, and even forced labor without access to protections. This March, farmworkers will embark on a 14-day, 12-city tour across the Southeast and Midwest to call for farmworker justice, and they will join thousands of consumer allies to deliver this message straight to Wendy’s doorstep in the company's hometown of Columbus, OH. Together, farmworkers and allies will ensure that Wendy’s turns their act around and commits to dignity in the fields by joining the Fair Food Program.

Join us in bringing Wendy’s to the table by calling Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor next Wednesday February 1, and let him know that the Fair Food Nation is ready, and we’re coming! If Wendy’s doesn't join the Fair Food Program before March rolls around, we’ll be bringing our friends, classmates, congregations, and communities to Columbus, OH for a large, visible, and powerful mobilization culminating in the Return to Human Rights Tour!

Call-in number: Dial 614-764-3100, press #3, ask to leave a message for Todd Penegor (they will transfer you to his assistant, Lisa Spears)

Here is a sample script:

“Hi, my name is _______ and I’m calling to leave a message for Mr. Todd Penegor in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. The CIW is a farmworker human rights organization that's calling on Wendy’s to end exploitation in their supply chain by joining the internationally-recognized Fair Food Program. I am currently participating in the national boycott of Wendy's because of your company's ongoing failure to join. If Wendy's doesn't join the CIW’s Fair Food Program by March, I will be attending a major national farmworker and consumer mobilization March 24-26 in Dublin and Columbus, and I’ll be bringing my community, too! 

Thank you for relaying this message.”

Make sure to fill out the form below to let us know about your call to Wendy's HQ's!

On Valentine's Day, remind Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor of the Fair Food Nation's commitment to boycott!

During the next few weeks, people across the country will prepare to celebrate Valentine's Day by sharing in the promise of love and unity with friends and family. As storefronts and online feeds begin filling with hearts and flowers, the Fair Food Nation will begin making special plans of its own... to mobilize our congregations, campuses and communities for the CIW's Return to Human Rights Tour set for March 16-29! 

And just in from the CIW's website, check out the full tour schedule below: 

• March 16 – Gainesville, FL
• March 17 — Atlanta, GA
• March 18 — Nashville, TN
• March 19 — St. Louis, MO
• March 20 — Minneapolis, MN
• March 21 — Madison, WI
• March 22 — Chicago, IL
• March 23 — Louisville, KY
• March 24-26 — National Convergence & Action in Columbus, OH
• March 27 — Chapel Hill, NC
• March 28 — Charleston, SC
• March 29 — Tampa, FL 

But, even before converging with dozens of farmworkers and thousands of their allies in support of the Wendy's Boycott during this year’s major spring mobilization, we're calling on allies to build the drumbeat in the weeks leading up to the tour. On Feb. 14, join the Fair Food Nation in mailing Valentine's Day cards to Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor, to remind Wendy’s top executive of our commitment to boycott the world’s third largest hamburger chain until they join the Presidential Medal-winning Fair Food Program! 

Check out these action resources for creative ideas, graphics, guides and tips for sending your Valentines to Wendy's Headquarters and for organizing a spirited action at your local Wendy’s. 

Join the AFF network in giving Mr. Penegor notice that when it comes to human rights for farmworkers, consumers of conscience have high standards – and Wendy's should, too. The longer Wendy's leadership weighs the merits of "expecting" more from their tomato suppliers versus returning to an industry where real, enforceable protections for farmworkers are flourishing, the stronger people of faith, students and consumers will deliver on their word: If you don't sign, we won't buy!

2016 Year in Review: A look back at the work that moved us

As allies and believers in the Fair Food movement, we can help ensure the sustainability and viability of the Fair Food Program and the Campaign for Fair Food on which it rests — because of this, we are calling on you to become a Fair Food Sustainer today and support us in building an even stronger movement for justice in the fields in 2017. 

When we entered 2016 twelve months ago, we didn’t leave behind the old — we carried forward a history over two decades-long of CIW farmworker leadership, and another nearly as long of ally dedication and commitment into the new year.

Twelve months later, we stand another year older and another year wiser, having learned from our challenges and losses, but never once putting those above our gains — and indeed, we had many gains. We spent the year working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, building a world in which workers’ rights are respected, in which consumers see themselves as critical agents in the U.S. agriculture and food systems, and in which human rights are implemented rigorously. It’s because of people like you, allies new and old who continue to act following the leadership of farmworkers, that we can say that the New Day is here to stay.

Take a moment to reflect on the incredible year we have had, and how your contribution to sustain this work can continue to make this all possible:

CIW announces the Workers’ Voice Tour, thousands prepare for 2016’s major spring mobilization
2016 started off with a bang as Immokalee farmworkers announced a major five-city, 10-day national Workers Voice Tour, inviting farmworkers, people of faith, students, grassroots organizations, fellow workers, and consumers of conscience to take action — all to amplify the Fair Food Nation’s call urging Wendy’s and its leadership to finally join the Fair Food Program!

The Workers’ Voice Tour packed a punch in what had been, at that point, a 3-year long Wendy’s campaign when nearly 500 farmworkers and NYC residents marched to the offices of Wendy’s Board Chairman and major shareholder Nelson Peltz on the tour’s first major stop. The march followed a momentous announcement: for the second time in the Campaign for Fair Food’s 15-year history, the CIW announced a national boycott of a corporate holdout! The brand new Wendy’s Boycott reached tens of thousands of consumers as thousands of allies took to the streets in the following city stops, committing themselves and their communities to building a strong movement for human rights in Wendy’s supply chain.

CIW launches the Campaign for Fair Food’s second-ever boycott as the Workers’ Voice Tour kicks off
The Workers’ Voice Tour packed a punch in what had been, at that point, a 3-year long Wendy’s campaign when nearly 500 farmworkers and NYC residents marched to the offices of Wendy’s Board Chairman and major shareholder Nelson Peltz on the tour’s first major stop. The march followed a momentous announcement: for the second time in the Campaign for Fair Food’s 15-year history, the CIW announced a national boycott of a corporate holdout! The brand new Wendy’s Boycott reached tens of thousands of consumers as thousands of allies took to the streets in the following city stops, committing themselves and their communities to building a strong movement for human rights in Wendy’s supply chain.

News breaks of Wendy’s shameful supply chain practices, and “Month of Outrage” spreads in response
In April, Harper’s Magazine revealed a key Wendy’s tomato supplier in Mexico to be none other than Bioparques del Occidente — a producer that, in 2013, was the subject of a massive slavery prosecution by the Mexican government. The news sparked outrage in people of conscience across the Fair Food Nation, strengthening allies’ resolve to boycott the fast food giant. The action-packed “Month of Outrage” spread the news and the call to boycott from coast to coast, following scores of high-spirited pickets and letter deliveries at Wendy’s locations across the country.

Fair Food Nation puts faith into action to bring Wendy’s to the table
As some of the first-ever supporters of the CIW, communities of faith drew from their own traditions to mobilize in force during the lead-up to the annual Wendy’s Shareholder Meeting. From the boycott endorsement letter signed by 300+ rabbis and delivered personally by leaders from T’ruah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights to the Manhattan offices of Nelson Peltz; to the National Day of Prayer anchored by institutions such as the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and National Farm Worker Ministry; to the poignant letter penned to outgoing Wendy’s CEO Emil Brolick, Nelson Peltz, by nearly two dozen religious leaders from more than 12 faith traditions, the call for true justice from Wendy’s rang loud and clear across the country.

Farmworkers and allies take action at Wendy's Annual Shareholder Meeting
Nearly 100 farmworkers and allies from Wendy’s hometown of Columbus, OH descended upon Wendy’s annual shareholder meeting to take the boycott straight to the fast food retailer’s corporate leadership. Standing their ground with an unshakeable presence, CIW farmworker Silvia Perez, Ohio State University student Amanda Ferguson, and T’ruah leader Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster entered the heart of Wendy’s operations in order to confront company leadership and demand that they become part of the solution to farmworker exploitation. Between powerful statements delivered directly to executives inside and the resounding protest outside, the Fair Food Nation took a step closer to bringing Wendy’s to the table!

CIW heads north to bring “Know Your Rights” education to thousands of workers laboring in the summer harvest
The Fair Food Program expansion into new crops and states is now a fierce reality. In June and July, CIW farmworker leaders made their way up north for the second summer in a row to conduct “Know Your Rights” trainings with farmworkers who, previously, only enjoyed the “new day” of human rights during the winter season on participating Florida farms. Around 2,000 workers joined tens of thousands of Florida workers in the Fair Food Program, receiving worker-to-worker education as they reflected on their experiences in the fields and came face-to-face with the unprecedented protections and responsibilities created by the new day.

Boycott Wendy’s petition goes viral on Change.org , garners 75k signatures (and counting!)
Nearly six months since the announcement of the historic Wendy’s Boycott, Change.org — one of the giants of online social justice with over 100 million petition starters and supporters in more than 196 countries — turned its spotlight on Wendy’s! The petition went viral with swelling numbers of consumers who signed and committed to boycotting the hamburger giant until they join the CIW’s Fair Food Program. Today, the online petition boasts  over 75,000 signatures from supporters coast to coast. Make sure to sign and share the petition if you haven’t already!

Allies from across the network gather for first-ever Wendy’s Boycott Summit in Immokalee, kickstart campaign organizing for the season ahead
Nearly 90 allies from our vibrant national AFF network of people of faith, students, youth, food justice advocates, and grassroots organizations came together in Immokalee for a successful first-ever Wendy’s Boycott Summit. Hailing from nearly twenty different states and from dozens of high schools, universities, congregations, and community organizations from coast to coast, participants gathered in the heart of the movement for Fair Food to develop skills, build relationships, and, most importantly, forge a winning strategy for victory in the Wendy’s Boycott.

Behind the Braids tours take nearly two dozen cities by storm, Wendy’s issues most direct public response to CIW yet
Throughout the fall, CIW farmworker leaders and allies from Immokalee packed their bags to join thousands of allies for powerful Wendy’s Boycott actions and educational events. Wendy’s, taken aback by the renewed wave of campaign pressure, issued its most direct public response to the CIW in the four years of the Wendy’s campaign — a response rife with half-truths, and outright fabrications that the CIW breaks down point by point on its website. From the Southeast all the way to cities in the Midwest, Northeast, Texas, and Mid-Atlantic regions, consciousness of the truth behind Wendy’s empty code of conduct generated a whirlwind of action, all with resounding message for Wendy’s: Consumers will continue to boycott your restaurants, until you join the Fair Food Program!

Return to Human Rights tour announced for spring of 2017
Wrapping up a year of nonstop action, and looking to make the boycott even bigger, even more powerful, and finally victorious in the year ahead, a few weeks ago the CIW announced 2017’s major spring mobilization: The Return to Human Rights Tour! In the tradition of the Taco Bell Truth Tours that successfully mobilized tens of thousands of consumers toward victory in the Campaign for Fair Food’s historic Taco Bell Boycott, farmworkers from Immokalee plan to join countless allies on tour next March. In the last weeks of 2016, plans are already underway to take the boycott deep into Wendy’s territory throughout the Midwest and the Southeast, culminating with a major action in Wendy’s hometown of Columbus, Ohio and finishing strong with a powerful concluding vigil in Tampa — stopping in nearly a dozen cities over the 13-day journey, including Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, and more.

Powerful and influential institutions, organizations, and individuals officially endorse the Wendy’s Boycott
Since the launch of the Wendy’s Boycott back in March, a vast representation of religious, student, food justice, human rights, and grassroots supporters have lent their weight by officially endorsing the boycott. By endorsing, longstanding and new partners alike pronounce their determination to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the CIW in the continuing boycott of the final fast food holdout. The full and growing list can be found on the Wendy’s Boycott website, and includes institutions such as the National Council of Churches, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Assembly, and the National Farmworker Ministry.

Give the gift of human rights for farmworkers!

What if this holiday season, you could give a loved one the gift of human rights for farmworkers?  

In 2016, never-before-seen rights for tens of thousands of farmworkers have reached tomato fields across the East Coast, as well as bell pepper and strawberry fields in Florida. Over the past 15 years, through the tenacious Campaign for Fair Food, hundreds of thousands of consumers and farmworkers have partnered together to bring corporate giants to implement human rights in their supply chain. And the unprecedented result of that partnership — the creation and implementation of the award-winning Fair Food Program — is guaranteeing freedom to work free from sexual harassment, an end to forced labor, access to shade, water, bathrooms, the right to report abuse without fear of retaliation, and many other rights to farmworkers in the U.S. agricultural industry. 

Now, our challenge is not only to strengthen and expand these rights, but to also sustain them for the long haul. And that’s why this holiday season, we invite you to give the gift of human rights to a friend or family member by making a sustaining donation in their honor.

• The AFF and CIW’s commitment to building strong coalitions and winning campaign strategies is embodied most fully during major mobilizations when we come together to break bread and take action together. Combined with some ingenuity and generous in-kind donations, just 5 people committing to donate $20 a month can completely cover the costs of a pre-action gathering with hundreds of farmworkers and allies. As farmworkers and the AFF network march in the heat or the snow, travel for hundreds or even thousands of miles to arrive, and sacrifice time at work or with loved ones to carry on the struggle for Fair Food, these gatherings are the beating heart of our organization. 

• If you make a recurring donation in honor of a young person in your life, consider that if just 10 people commit to becoming Sustainers at $100 a month, the costs of 100 students and young people attending the Student/Farmworker Alliance’s annual Encuentro will be completely covered, including meals, lodging, meeting space, materials, and travel scholarships for this crucial gathering. The Encuentro is a pivotal moment for youth of the Fair Food movement to develop campaign strategy, build leadership skills, and create a strong community. And this year, it will be more critical than ever that young people are equipped to protect the future of the Fair Food Program and our communities at large.

Finally, we are sharing an example of the impact of donations to the Fair Food Sustainer Program directly from the CIW’s website:

“If 25 people gave $25 a month, the CIW worker-to-worker education team would have the resources necessary to bring Fair Food Program education to 1,000 workers in the northern states of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina each summer, where the team rises before dawn each morning, drives to distant fields, and informs workers, face to face, of their right to work free of violence, sexual harassment, and dangerous working conditions.”

Your gift in someone’s honor to the Fair Food Sustainer Program is an investment in a different future: A future where the New Day of human rights dawning in fields across the East Coast becomes the norm. It is an investment in the future of the world we are creating together – one where all people are treated with dignity and respect on the job, at home and beyond. 

Join us in making that future a reality.

The Fair Food Nation puts hope into action on Human Rights Day!

JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF

With December upon us, many in our community are preparing to celebrate hope, lent by the stories and values of our different faith traditions. That is, whether we ready ourselves recognizing the halfway mark of the joyful, expectant season of Advent, or remarking the rapid approach of the miraculous nights of Chanukah (and for the students in our community, rejoicing in the semester drawing to a close!). As we reflect on the significance of hope, the words of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Nely Rodriguez come to mind, spoken as she accepted the Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom from Want Medal in 2013 for the CIW: “More and more every day, the humanity of farmworkers is being recognized.  Today, we are feeling a light of hope, thanks to the Fair Food Program we created together.”  

In the past weeks, farmworkers have challenged us both to recall the human rights we have won together, and also to determinedly continue to fight for their expansion as we join in solidarity with all facing injustice.  Responding to a call to participate in the Wendy’s Boycott on Human Rights Day, hundreds of people put their commitment to boycott into action over the past week in the streets, in their congregations and communities, and through the power of their pens.  Today we bring you reports from several of those actions -- beginning with some of the AFF’s youngest members.

Human Rights Day Protest in Boston

After participating in the CIW’s “Behind the Braids” tour events in Boston this October and spending months learning about the history of Jewish labor organizing, a group of fifth graders at Boston Workmen’s Circle decided that their community needed to join the Wendy’s Boycott -- so, they organized a 60-person protest this Sunday in front of the Downtown Crossing Wendy’s.  Despite the insults an apparent Wendy’s employee hurled at the group, the young students led the protest with energy and enthusiasm, chanting, “Hold the burgers, hold the shakes!  A penny more is all it takes!”  The Boston Globe reported, including this quote from 10-year-old Jay Rochberg of Cambridge: 

““It’s one thing to see these issues with garment workers in 1912. It’s another thing to see it now in 2016 with farmworkers who can’t support their families because corporations like Wendy’s can’t pay a penny more per pound.” ”

Wendy’s referred reporters to their October statement on the Fair Food Program, which includes half-truths about their auditing practices, avoids addressing the human rights of workers in their tomato supply chain (largely in Mexico), and lies about the function of the Fair Food Program.  But the Workmen’s Circle students spelled out the truth about Wendy’s clearly in a letter they wrote and read aloud to all gathered.  Here’s an excerpt:  

““Instead of agreeing to the Fair Food Program, Wendy’s is now buying tomatoes from Mexico. We’re here to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and want Wendy’s to pay a penny more per pound of tomatoes. Many of the tomato farmworkers can’t support their families. By buying tomatoes from Mexico, you are continuing to support poor labor conditions.” ”

Flood of Human Rights Day Letters to Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor

Meanwhile, just a day before -- on International Human Rights Day -- members of the National Council of Churches, the Sisters of St. Joseph, allies in Ohio, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Tampa, Orlando, Oregon, and Georgia, members of the Riverside Church in New York City, residents at the Stony Point Center in Stony Point, New York, and everywhere in between exercised their voices as consumers to write letters to Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor, demanding that he heed the Wendy’s Boycott and change the company’s egregious record on farmworkers’ human rights.  Here’s what Anne McCudden of Georgia wrote: 

“As I write to you from South Georgia, I can tell you that my community and others around me have joined this boycott and we no longer consume the Wendy’s brand (nor do my siblings and family across the country).  This movement is growing, so I urge you to respect the fundamental human rights of farmworkers in your supply chain by bringing Wendy’s into the Fair Food Program.”

The Little Red Schoolhouse in New York took their letter-writing action further and took their call to a nearby Wendy’s.  They reported, "Today the LREI Farmworker Rights club delivered a letter to the manager of our local Wendy's. We encouraged him to tell his supervisor that all of us, and many more students, have pledged to boycott Wendy's until they sign up with the Fair Food Program. We unfurled a long list of all the people who've signed our petition and flyered around the restaurant. We hope the message makes it's way to Wendy's management and that customers will think twice about spending their money at Wendy's."

Pittsburgh Joins the Wendy’s Boycott

Two weeks ago, Duquesne University Student/Farmworker Alliance invited the CIW to the City of Bridges for a lineup of Fair Food events during Spiritan Campus Ministry’s annual Fair Trade Week, including an interactive tomato bucket relay race activity and a screening of Food Chains. Two full days of classroom presentations, exchanges with community groups, and a solidarity action with Pittsburgh workers calling for respect in the workplace and fair wages, set the stage for a high-energy, 50-person strong Wendy’s Boycott action in Lawrenceville. Members of Pittsburgh UNITED, organizers at the Thomas Merton Center, Duq SFA and USAS Local #31 at the University of Pittsburgh, among others, stood up for farmworkers’ human rights and made the commitment to stay steadfast in taking action in the Wendy’s Boycott until the hamburger giant joins the Fair Food Program.

The Fast Food Grinch

On a very festive note, this past weekend members of the Student/Farmworker Alliance created a series of fantastic videos declaring Wendy’s as this year’s Fast Food Grinch.  You can head over to SFA’s site, for the full selection, but for now, here are a two videos proving Wendy’s heart is a few sizes too small: 

And One More Thing ...

Wendy’s: Consumers’ profound hope and determination to boycott you until you respect workers’ human rights should be clear as day.  But until you join the Fair Food Program and decide to stop losing the business of thousands of consumers, people of faith, students, and grassroots groups around the country, here’s a reminder. Farmworkers have announced their plan to once again take the Wendy’s Boycott all over the country this March with the Return to Human Rights tour.

Fair Food Nation: With stops in a dozen cities over the course of two weeks, we know that by taking action together in the Return to Human Rights tour, we can bring Wendy’s to the table, and we can lift up struggles for justice around the country. Read up on last week’s post for all the details, and start making your plans to join us in Columbus as we bring the Wendy’s Boycott home!

SAVE THE DATE: CIW's Return to Human Rights Tour announced for March 16 – 29, 2017!

Mark your calendars, because it’s official! Today, the CIW announced next year’s major spring action: the Return to Human Rights Tour, March 16-29, 2017!

In the tradition of the Taco Bell Truth Tours that successfully mobilized tens of thousands of consumers nationwide toward victory in the Campaign for Fair Food’s seminal Taco Bell Boycott – and on the heels of last year’s successful Workers’ Voice Tour – farmworkers from Immokalee will join countless allies on next year’s Return to Human Rights Tour to take the Wendy’s Boycott deep into Wendy’s territory throughout the Midwest and the Southeast. 

The Return to Human Rights Tour will culminate with a major action in Wendy’s hometown of Columbus, Ohio on March 26 and finish strong with a powerful concluding vigil in Tampa on March 29 – stopping in nearly a dozen cities over the 13-day journey, including Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, and more.

So, start making plans to meet us at major stops in Columbus or Tampa! And get in touch with us at organize@allianceforfairfood.org to begin mobilizing your congregation, campus, or community to support this year’s major Return to Human Rights Tour!

It’s time for Wendy’s – and the country – to return to human rights. To read more about 2017’s Return to Human Rights Tour, check out the full tour announcement on the CIW’s website!

Fair Food Nation, see you in the spring!

-The Immokalee Crew

Take Action: On Human Rights Day, December 10, write to Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor!

As the basic human rights of so many are being challenged across the country, it is now more important than ever that we protect the human rights gains we’ve won and struggle together to push them forward. And as the year comes to a close, allies across the Fair Food Nation will take a stand on Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, by sending letters to Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor to call on him to bring the final fast food holdout into the Fair Food Program.

The Fair Food movement is fundamentally a human rights movement, broad and inclusive of immigrant rights, labor rights, women’s rights, and even consumer rights. Indeed, this is the right to demand that, in the 21st century, food corporations no longer turn a blind eye to abuses in their supply chains, but use the power of the market to help fix the poverty and exploitation that their purchasing policies have driven for so long.

Wendy’s refusal to join the Fair Food Program-- called “one of the great human rights success stories of our day” in the Washington Post for its achievements in transforming the U.S. agricultural industry -- continues to pose one of the largest threats to the protection and expansion of basic rights for thousands of farmworkers. Wendy's recent response to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, published on their Corporate Social Responsibility blog in October, misconstrues completely the function of the Fair Food Program and worse, extolls their decision to purchase from farms in Mexico where there have been well-documented human rights abuses.

So this Human Rights Day, Saturday Dec. 10, take action by writing a letter to Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor calling on him to bring the final fast food holdout to the table and into the Fair Food Program. 

In this letter-writing guide, you’ll find more information, talking points, and instructions about where and how to mail your letter to Wendy’s CEO. The guide also includes ideas for engaging your congregations, families, and communities in writing letters to Mr. Penegor and flooding his mailbox with our movement’s clarion call for justice. These include creative ways to amplify the letters’ impact by arranging deliveries of letter copies to local Wendy’s restaurants. 

Wendy’s and CEO Todd Penegor must respect the human rights of the farmworkers in its supply chain, or else continue to face a growing national boycott.

Write us at organize@allianceforfairfood.org if you plan to participate on Dec. 10! 

This Giving Tuesday, support human rights – become a Fair Food Sustainer!

In the fall of 2008, Sen. Bernie Sanders visited Immokalee on a fact-finding tour.  He came to investigate the human rights crisis in the fields of Florida and the then fierce industry resistance to the CIW’s vision of a more modern, more humane agricultural industry.  His intervention helped break that resistance and launch what today has become the single most successful human rights program in US agriculture, the Fair Food Program.  It was also the inspiration for this remarkable video from his campaign earlier this year:

Following his visit, Sen. Sanders summed up his impression of the CIW and their struggle with these words:

“The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has proven that when you get up every day to fight for what is right, when you don’t give up even when all the odds are against you, when you don’t compromise on basic principles of fairness, and when you build a strong grassroots movement, economic justice will prevail over greed, and the least fortunate can successfully stand up to the powerful.” — U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, 2008

The new world of dignity and respect for fundamental human rights born of the Fair Food Program is truly a singular achievement.  But the movement that has won those gains can’t stop now.  Hundreds of thousands of farmworkers across the country continue to suffer from the grinding poverty and unspeakable abuse at the hands of their employers that has characterized farm labor for generations.  The Fair Food Nation’s challenge today is to continue expanding the Fair Food Program into new states and new crops, to continue — against all odds — bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice.  

And to reach that next level, we need the help of allies and supporters, now more than ever. Today, on Giving Tuesday, we are joining the CIW to call on allies like you to become Fair Food Sustainers.

We need you to join the growing ranks of Fair Food allies who make a monthly donation — whether it is $1,000 or $100 or $10 a month.  With your sustained support, we can continue to ensure that farmworker women who face sexual violence have access to swift and decisive justice in the fields, and that the world’s largest corporations are held to account for the human rights abuses in their supply chains.

To be sure, defending farmworkers’ basic human rights in this country has never been an easy task.  This year’s stunning election results stand to make that task only more daunting.

Yet we know that, in the face of the extraordinary challenges that lie ahead of us, there are millions of people across the country like you asking themselves how they can step up in the years ahead to support the vision of a better world they believe in.  Becoming a Fair Food Sustainer is an immediate, concrete step that you can take to advance fundamental human rights and dignity for some of this country’s least protected workers.

Now more than ever, we must remain steadfast in our principles, we must get up and work hard every single day, and we must defy the odds.  This Giving Tuesday, join the Fair Food Sustainer Program today, and share the call to action with your community!