Florida United Methodist Church Bishop Kenneth Carter and Cabinet visit Immokalee!

On Monday, Bishop Kenneth H. Carter, Jr. and the cabinet of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church kicked off a two-day tour of the Conference’s missional areas across the state of Florida. This estimable team of Methodist Church leaders chose to launch their tour in no other place than right here, in the CIW’s hometown of Immokalee, birthplace of the Fair Food movement! 

With a delegation including all nine district superintendents charged with leading nearly 700 congregations throughout the state, the visitors represented the tens of thousands of Florida Methodists who, throughout the long history of the Campaign for Fair Food, have put their unwavering faith into action in the pursuit of farm labor justice, partnering with farmworkers in the fight to end generations of poverty and abuse in Florida’s fields.

Indeed, the Methodist Church’s long and profound history of support can be traced back to the campaign’s early days.  From a General Conference resolution endorsing the seminal Taco Bell boycott in 2004, to the thousands of United Methodist clergy and laity who have prayed, fasted, written letters, sat vigil, and marched with farmworkers over the years, to the remarkable landslide vote at 2015 Annual Conference in favor of a formal resolution calling on Publix and Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program, Florida’s Methodists have steadfastly stood with farmworkers.

And today, as they have in the past, United Methodists continue to put their faith into action in the pursuit of farm labor justice.  From local congregations to Church-wide organizations like United Methodist Women, the call from Florida’s United Methodists to corporations like Publix and Wendy’s to come, at long last, to the table with farmworkers grows louder by the day.

Bishop Carter and the Florida Conference Cabinet journeyed to Immokalee to bear witness, firsthand, to the unprecedented transformation that has taken place in Florida’s tomato industry.  They came to visit with the protagonists — farmworkers and growers alike — of the remarkable story of conflict, reconciliation and redemption that has played out over the past two decades in this once-forgotten farming community.

The group heard directly from farmworker leaders about the incredible changes experienced by the Immokalee community thanks to the Fair Food Program and, subsequently visiting a participating farm to hear from growers about the positive impact the Program has had on their operations, celebrated the win-win-win partnership that’s created the “new day” for farmworkers in tomatoes across the East Coast.

Visit the CIW website for a full report of Bishop Carter and the Cabinet’s tour of the CIW community center and of a participating farm!

Before reporting on the start of the summer protest season, we’ll leave you with some moving words of reflection and prayer shared among farmworkers and United Methodist leaders. Gathered in a circle at the end of the visit, CIW’s Cruz Salucio communicated his own words of appreciation for the Bishop and the cabinet’s gracious interest in Immokalee and the Fair Food Program, situating the visit and farmworkers’ struggle in the faith that many workers hold:

For us workers, we never imagined arriving to this point and at this moment, to be on a grower’s property, and to work in partnership with them…I believe that God is with us today, just as God has accompanied us throughout our struggle including in difficult and frustrating moments we have faced throughout the years, when we were not able to embark on the path we sought. Today we believe God is still at the forefront of the CIW’s struggle.

From my perspective, God is happy with us carrying forth this struggle together. And I believe we can do more, that we can work together to arrive to the moment in which corporations that still don’t want to participate finally join us so that one day, we can see an even bigger change.

Farmworkers were deeply touched as Bishop Carter concluded the moment of reflection with his own moving words of gratitude, and a blessing for the community of Immokalee:

We thank you, God, for our sisters and brothers here in Immokalee. We pray that we would remember their stories. That we would know that we are a part of a network of mutuality in this life—and where we rejoice, we rejoice together; where we weep, we weep together. Thank you for their hospitality and openness to receive us. And we pray that we would reflect on what we’ve learned, and that we would act.

And taking action in the name of justice is indeed what a group of farmworkers and their allies did last weekend! From the CIW’s site:

Just a few, short miles from the very same fields where the United Methodist delegation met with growers, a brand new Publix opened on Immokalee Road in late March.  And in recognition of that opening, curious customers were greeted this past Saturday not only by the store’s eager new manager, but also by more than 50 farmworkers, their families, and allies from across Southwest Florida, gathered for a sunny picket in front of the shiny new supermarket.  Among those who made it out to support workers from Immokalee were the Rev. Esther Rodriguez of Tice United Methodist Church, members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ft. Myers, members of the Quaker Meeting of Ft. Myers, students from FGCU, SURJ of Southwest Florida, members of the Southwest Florida Resistance Coalition, and students from OSU, who were in town for meetings with CIW members and a closer look at the Fair Food Program in action!

The protest was covered by local news networks, including the local Fox 4 station and the Naples Daily News, who followed up that same day with an insightful account of the day’s action.

And so, the struggle for real, lasting justice from Fair Food holdouts Wendy’s and Publix continues. Indefatigably, the community of Immokalee and their steadfast allies across the Alliance for Fair Food network march on towards social change – no matter how long or arduous the road one must take to get there.

NEW VIDEO: “This fight has never been more real, more powerful or more urgent!”

Last Thursday, just as we rolled out an exciting new campaign to raise $25,000 to fuel the Wendy’s Boycott, a delegation of Ohio State University students rolled into Immokalee! After a jam-packed semester of intensive student organizing to remove Wendy’s from campus, members of Ohio State Student/Farmworker Alliance and Real Food OSU wrapped up the semester by visiting the birthplace of the Fair Food movement to deeply connect and build relationships with the farmworker community. 

Trip highlights included an in-depth strategy meeting with CIW members to escalate the students' campus-based Boot the Braids campaign before the extension of the Wendy’s lease expires on June 30 — and, to ground their efforts, an inside look at a worker-to-worker education session on a participating Fair Food Program farm. 

Ready for victory, the Buckeyes hit the road for Columbus on Saturday morning, but not before taking a moment to urge the Fair Food Nation to donate to the Wendy’s Boycott Fund! We’re just 11 days away from Wendy’s annual shareholder meeting, and hundreds upon hundreds will be taking action in the lead up to remind Wendy’s top executives that as long as real, verifiable human rights protections are not part of their recipe, we will no longer support their business! 

How much can you contribute to ensure a mounting wave of action in the upcoming months? 

As OSU student Emily urges in the video, we’re asking you to contribute what you can to help us raise the funds we need to keep strengthening our grassroots movement — and achieve a boycott victory soon! 

Donate to the Wendy’s Boycott Fund today!

In the struggle, 
The Immokalee Crew 

ACTION ALERT! Take action in May ahead of Wendy's annual shareholder meeting! 

Join farmworkers, Columbus-area allies and supporters from across the country for a major protest outside of Wendy's shareholder meeting on Tuesday, May 23! 

Wendy’s believes it can fool shareholders and consumers with its façade of corporate social responsibility.  Join us in revealing the truth about Wendy’s supply chain and remind the company's leadership that we are committed to #BoycottWendys until Wendy’s joins the Fair Food Program!

After months of sharply escalating action in the Wendy’s Boycott, demanding that the corporation respect farmworkers’ human rights, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and their allies will show up in powerful witness outside of Wendy’s annual shareholder meeting Tuesday, May 23 from 8-11 a.m.

For over four years, Wendy’s has refused to meet face to face with farmworkers to dialogue and negotiate their participation in the Fair Food Program. Enough is enough! We will bring the call for farmworker justice to Wendy's doorstep, directly to the company's top executives and shareholders.   

Here are four ways you can take action in the month of May!

1) Begin making plans to join farmworkers, Ohio Fair Food and allies from across the country on Tuesday, May 23 for a major protest outside of Wendy's annual shareholder meeting, followed by a community lunch with CIW. Housing will be provided for those coming from out of town. Get in touch with us at organize@allianceforfairfood.org for support in planning the trip! 

2) Send a boycott postcard to Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor and Board Chairman Nelson Peltz, then organize your community, congregation, or student group to do the same! Download the postcard here to print, sign, and send to One Dave Thomas Blvd., Dublin, OH 43017. 

3) Donate to the Wendy’s Boycott Fund to bring us closer to our goal of $25,000 in the month of May, to fuel sustained and growing action in the struggle for Fair Food – and bring us closer to an agreement with the final fast food holdout! You can donate online at bit.ly/boycott-fund or by writing a check to Alliance for Fair Food and sending to PO Box 509, Immokalee, FL 34143.

4) On Monday, May 22, participate in a national call-in day to Wendy's Headquarters! Below is information about the call-in day and a sample script for your call. Once you’ve called, email us at organize@allianceforfairfood.org to share a reportback!

Call-in Number: (888)-624-8140

Script: Hello, my name is __________ and I would like to leave a message for Todd Penegor.

As a dedicated ally of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, I want Wendy’s to know that I will continue to support the national Wendy’s Boycott until the corporation respects the human rights of farmworkers in its supply chain and joins the Fair Food Program. For four years, we have demanded that Wendy’s be a partner in the Program, but Wendy’s has failed to do so, instead offering a Code of Conduct devoid of enforcement mechanisms or worker participation and moving purchasing to fields where human rights abuses go unchecked.

Mr. Penegor should know we plan to make our voices heard during an action outside of Wendy’s headquarters tomorrow, calling on him and all shareholders to respect farmworkers’ dignity by joining the Fair Food Program. Unless you commit to joining the Fair Food Program during your annual shareholder meeting, scores of farmworkers and allies will be peacefully demonstrating outside — and the already tens of thousands-strong boycott of Wendy’s will continue to grow day by day!

Thank you for delivering this message.

This spring, thousands mobilized as part of the Return to Human Rights Tour in a unified cry on behalf of all struggles for human rights, highlighting Wendy’s decision to purchase tomatoes where working conditions are deplorable rather than use its market power to lift up human rights. 

Nineteen students at The Ohio State University fasted for seven days to pressure administration to end the university’s contract with Wendy’s, sparking over a month of rolling campus fasts across the country. Hundreds of students, as well as religious leaders and community partners, went without food in order to accentuate Wendy’s moral duty to respect workers’ rights rather than hide behind an empty code of conduct.  And now, we are returning to Wendy’s annual shareholder meeting more powerful than ever before. 

Let's send the message to Wendy’s leadership that they can no longer ignore the tens of thousands of consumers boycotting their restaurants as farmworkers lead their own struggle for justice in the fields. 

Help us raise $25,000 to fuel the Wendy's Boycott!

In response to the tremendous momentum building day by day in the Wendy’s Boycott, we’re trying something we’ve never done before. The Alliance for Fair Food is launching a campaign to raise an ambitious $25,000 in the month of May to fuel escalating action in the upcoming months.

Hot on the heels of a sweeping 12-city, 14-day “Return to Human Rights Tour” this past March and a massive outpour of support from institutions and communities of faith for the rolling fasts at over a dozen university campuses from Florida to Michigan in April, the Fair Food Nation is on an unstoppable action streak in the struggle for farmworker justice. And it’s only to be continued with a formidable, larger-than-ever mobilization outside of Wendy’s upcoming shareholder meeting at the company’s Dublin, OH headquarters in just 19 days!

Action on this unprecedented scale — and our plans for the pressure to continue unabated throughout the summer and into the fall towards an inevitable victory in the boycott — will require the financial support of every member of our diverse network.

So we’re calling on you, the CIW’s network of dedicated allies, to help us kickstart the Wendy’s Boycott Fund. This May, let’s raise $25,000!

It’s a lofty goal, but so is bringing the world’s third-largest hamburger chain into the CIW’s Fair Food Program following an appalling shift of tomato purchases away from Florida to a Mexican industry rife with unchecked violence and exploitation. Yet, working alongside the CIW, we’ve played a critical role in winning 14 unimaginable victories and securing never-before-seen rights for tens of thousands of farmworkers, and counting.

And now, the expansion of these rights is at stake. In order to ensure that the shared vision for justice in the fields that farmworkers and their allies have fought for over the last 25 years continues to expand to reach more workers in more crops, we need to bring Wendy's to the table in 2017. Building pressure in the months ahead is imperative for a win in the Wendy’s Boycott — and if history is any indicator of what we're capable of together — we know that it’s not a matter of if we will win, but when.

Donate to the Wendy’s Boycott Fund today!

Student fasts take hold at Catholic universities this week, as the Fair Food Nation keeps its eyes on Ohio State!

One month after the Return to Human Rights Tour made its mark on Wendy’s hometown of Columbus, OH with the conclusion of a weeklong fast by 19 students, alumni, and community members of The Ohio State University – and one month out from the Fair Food Nation’s return to Wendy’s headquarters for the annual shareholder meeting – this past week bore witness to continued, strengthening action from Florida to Indiana and Washington, D.C.!

Students at Tampa Bay-area universities, Vanderbilt University and Divinity School, and four Catholic institutions of higher education have continued to pass the rolling fast from school to school, uplifted by local clergy, Fair Food groups, and community-based organizations that have continually provided moral and material support for the sacrifice undertaken by students – and sometimes taken on the fast themselves.

We’ll begin our report in Florida, home of the Fair Food movement and the site of a three-school collaboration between the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, and Eckerd College to roll a five-day fast across the Tampa Bay. Tabling on campus, passing out Wendy’s Boycott flyers, stickers, buttons, and literature, served to educate hundreds over the course of the week – as did the lively picket at a downtown Tampa Wendy’s, followed by a moving reflection circle bookended by the CIW’s Leonel Perez:

Leonel Perez: “Our community in Immokalee knows about the fasts that are taking place.  In the past few weeks, when we go to the fields to educate workers about their rights as a part of the Fair Food Program, that’s one of the things we open with: We’re not alone.  There are students fasting, students protesting, students flyering and delivering letters.  With your support, tens of thousands of workers now live with respect in the workplace.  And in just a few weeks, workers will move to other states, and their rights will travel with them under the expanding Fair Food Program.” 

A sunset ceremony at Eckerd College concluded the Tampa Bay rolling fast, with Rev. Kim Wells from nearby Lakewood UCC offering a reflection and prayer before breaking bread:

Rev. Kim Wells “Food is essential to life. And the farmworker movement honors all workers. It’s also about the dignity of consumers, because we are all diminished when our food supply is tainted by injustice. It dehumanizes all of us. 

You all talked about fasting, and I really admire you for that, along with the students from the other schools in solidarity with farmworker concerns… You’ve made a sacrifice, but I imagine you’ll find that you’ve received far more from your experience than you gave up.  And I believe that’s the character of the farmworker movement.  It’s teaching us to honor the humanity of each and every person.”

Vanderbilt University’s seven-day fast paralleled efforts in Florida. The fast not only amplified the campaign led at the Ohio State University, but also drew attention to VU’s own yearlong campaign to “Boot the Braids.” That is, put an end to Wendy’s participation in the university’s “Taste of Nashville” dining program. The fasters’ on-campus education efforts helped raise the total number of petition signatures from 700 – gathered last semester – to a sizable 1,300, crystallizing students’ strengthening call for Vanderbilt to finally cut its ties with the fast food holdout.

This end-of-semester swell of support was bolstered by a lively march attended by Nashville Fair Food, Workers' Dignity and CIW members from Immokalee! The hundred-strong group began at the Wendy’s near campus, then made its way to administrative buildings to take the new signatures and a letter directly to Vanderbilt’s Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos:

Following a successful delivery to Vice Chancellor Eric Kopstain, the students finally broke their seven-day fast. Joseph Sheeran, a Presbyterian student at the Vanderbilt Divinity School, shared a biblical reflection just before the bread was broken:

“Those of you who have fasted this week understand that we cannot live simply on bread or food.  But that food without justice is no food at all.  We understand that as students at this university we have an obligation to speak to the powers that be, and the powers that be away… about this profound need for justice.” 

This week, the fast rolled on at four Catholic institutions of higher learning. Longtime Fair Food base Barry University came up first, with a 24-hour fast and a sunny, loud picket at the Wendy’s near the university’s Miami campus! Things drew a close with Father Cristobal Torres breaking bread with students:

Sister Jesuit institutions John Carroll University and Georgetown University were up next. In Cleveland, JCU students set up a colorful tent outside the highly-trafficked atrium on campus, gathering over 50 new pledges to Boycott Wendy’s in 48 hours before concluding their fast at their table. Georgetown students did the same on one of their campus’s main arteries, off of Copley Lawn. In Washington, D.C., where George Washington University students had fasted the week prior, the Georgetown fast concluded at dusk on Thursday evening in the supportive presence of alumni and DC Fair Food members and with a reading of the moving prayer, “A Step Along the Way,” written by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw in commemoration of Bishop Oscar Romero.

The week is drawing to a close in South Bend in Indiana, at the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame Student/Farmworker Alliance fresh off of their own transformative experiences in Immokalee and along the first couple stops of the Return to Human Rights Tour began a 48-hour solidarity fast on Wednesday evening, with a “Last Supper” and reflection:

Tommy Clarke:  Immokalee is a beautiful town. It is a hardworking town. It is a town filled with many immigrants. It is sometimes referred to as the capital of the tomato picking industry, since it is home to several of the largest growers of tomatoes in the country.  It is also home to an amazing organization that started in the basement of a church… They have changed the landscape of farms all over the U.S. Through a program they created, called the Fair Food Program, they have increased the wages for the backbreaking farmworkers, ensured safe working conditions, and holding farm owners and crewleaders accountable for abuse in the fields… We pray for all immigrants as they flee persecution or leave familiarity. We pray for farmworkers who provide the food that we eat. We pray for companies both big and small, to ensure justice for all their workers. As Catholic Social teaching tells us, we are called to honor human dignity for all, to honor the dignity of work and workers especially for migrant farmworkers, and to live in solidarity.

That’s a wrap for a packed week of action in the campaign! The CIW’s website has the full reports from each chapter of the past week’s incredible series of events. Read more about the fasts at Tampa Bay schools, Vanderbilt University, and Catholic universities, as well as the ongoing efforts by OSU students to terminate their institution’s Wendy’s lease (including full press round-ups on each!). And stay tuned for more on the growing national campaign to Boycott Wendy’s!

Nationwide, from Michigan to Florida, students fast with the support of communities of faith!

Following the monumental week-long fast undertaken by 19 Ohio State University students and alumni in the lead up to the Return to Human Rights Tour’s culmination in Wendy’s hometown of Columbus a few short weeks ago, rolling solidarity fasts by students have spread around the country like wildfire.  Responding to the call of OSU students to take up their fast as they demand that their university terminate its contract with Wendy’s, the message of this unprecedented action is simple: young people and students, anchored and supported by institutions and communities of faith, are willing to go hungry to demand that Wendy’s join the Fair Food Program because Wendy’s continued disregard for farmworkers necessitates such action.  

The fast first took off at the University of Michigan, where as at rival campus OSU, students are calling on the administration to end UMich’s contract with Wendy’s -- just as that university successfully did with Taco Bell more than a decade prior.  It was soon taken up by five courageous students at New College of Florida and Valencia College, who over the course of their five-day fast were joined by more than 80 of their peers and college President Donal O’Shea -- each making a direct call to the Ohio State University administration to end OSU’s contract with Wendy’s.  

As Sarasota- and Orlando-area students broke their fast in the presence of allies from local UU, Presbyterian, UCC, and Catholic congregations who could think of no better way to celebrate Good Friday than honoring the students' sacrifice in the name of justice, they were joined by the next group to take up the fasting torch in Florida. This past Monday, nearly two dozen students from three Tampa Bay-area schools -- the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, and Eckerd College -- came together for a rolling five-day fast that passes from school to school this week. 

Just yesterday, students at Vanderbilt University began a seven-day fast to advance their own campaign to put an end to Vanderbilt’s business agreement with Wendy’s.   

Over the course of the past year, Vanderbilt students have called repeatedly for the university to end its “Taste of Nashville” relationship with Wendy’s, by which students can use their meal plan to purchase food at Wendy’s.  Yet the university has failed to act, despite meetings with students leaders and over 700 signatures on a campus petition in support of Booting the Braids.  Ania Szczesniewski, one of the students fasters in this week’s action, described the choice before Vanderbilt in a powerful op/ed:

… Behind every tomato served by the Wendy’s fast food chain, with only their own Code of Conduct and no third party holding them accountable, there’s no saying how many men, women, children, and pregnant bellies get sprayed with pesticides, subjected to wage theft, denied water breaks during 12 hours or more of daily toil in the fields, or are faced with other crimes against humanity.

After months of investigating this labor rights catastrophe, a group of students confronted the head of Campus Dining with a petition in spring of 2016. The document bore over 700 signatures and asked Vanderbilt to cut ties with Wendy’s by removing them from the Taste of Nashville Program. They asked that the chain not be invited back as an off-campus dining option until they stopped violating human rights.

For them to prove there is fair treatment of workers in the tomato fields they source from, Wendy’s could join the Fair Food Program (FFP) by signing the Fair Food Agreement (FFA). The FFP acts as a third party between corporations and farmers. By signing on, the corporation pledges to only source from farms that are also part of the program, meaning that they are monitored by Fair Food, which watches out for labor rights infringements…

Schools and communities in fair food strongholds are currently in the process of planning the fasts that will follow this week's in force. Stay tuned for more on how you can support the rolling fasts!

And as Passover draws to a close and the joyful Easter season begins, we end today where these fasts began: in Ohio, where the support of faith communities in the Columbus area and beyond bolstered 19 OSU students and alumni to fast for a week.  Longtime CIW allies at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Interfaith Worker Justice have recently joined T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, the National Farmworker Ministry, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and others in sending letters to the Wendy’s Corporation urging them to heed the message of the tour and the fast.  Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rea, Director of the Disciples Refugee and Immigration Ministries, writes:

...Meanwhile, Wendy’s has continued to turn a blind eye to human rights. So long as Wendy’s continues to refuse to join a proven solution to abuse in the fields, farmworkers in Wendy’s supply chain will be denied the guarantee to report mistreatment without fear of retaliation, or to enjoy the premium that constitutes workers’ first pay increase in over three decades. Therefore as Disciples of Christ, we continue to boycott Wendy’s until you will SIGN THE FAIR FOOD PROGRAM. Please do it now—even as we know this week students at Ohio State University, and faith leaders outside your offices, will be joining in the National Day of Prayer and Fasting to urge you to do so! 

The support from people of faith was felt deeply at a local, not just a national level. Indeed, during OSU’s week-long fast, students at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio fasted in solidarity for two days to underscore the support of future Methodist ministers and leaders in Wendy’s home state. 

We'll end with a moving prayer penned by MTSO student Alex Clemetson, inspired for the occasion of the Vigil for Human Rights and on the cusp of what's now become a widespread rallying cry to take on the mantle of the Wendy's Boycott.

Holy God, we gather as your people to pray and worship together and express our thanks for your creation that sustains us and gives us life.

For the life we have and for the blessing of Earth’s beauty and bounty, we promise to become caretakers of the earth and our brothers and sisters that journey with us.

We ask blessings for the earth, the people and the hands that produce our food as we are mindful that the rights of workers are not always upheld by those they work for.

We ask forgiveness for the ways we perpetuate the oppression of those who allow us to eat.  Sometimes we have the privilege to make different choices and yet we do not, forgive us.  We remember and lift up to you Oh God those who do not have the means or privilege to make choices at all because food is food.  Be with us as we seek a food system that feeds and cares for all equally.

Give us strength for the journey as we seek justice for all those doing the work of fasting and fighting to bring light.

Give us strength for the journey as you lead us into solidarity and support of human rights for farm workers and for all people

Amen

Read all about it! Here’s the full media roundup from the Return to Human Rights Tour!

The CIW’s Return to Human Rights Tour, featuring the mobilization of thousands around the country and a week-long fast on the part of The Ohio State University students and alumni, marked an unprecedented level of action in the Wendy’s Boycott.  The commitment of students, people of faith and members of community groups and organizations to strengthening and expanding verifiable human rights for farmworkers rang out clear – and that call is only growing. 

Not only did thousands participate in the tour – but millions more consumers read of its message through the news media.  As the momentum of the tour surges onwards through a rolling student fast across the country, which started at the University of Michigan yesterday, and a growing swell of action in the Fair Food Nation, today we bring you an impressive roundup of the press coverage of the tour, featuring articles, radio shows, and television stories from Gainesville to Columbus, back to Tampa, and everywhere in between.  Share this news with your friends, family, and community, and get in touch with us at organize@allianceforfairfood.org to join the action!

First up, a piece in the National Catholic Reporter on the week-long fast undertaken by 19 courageous students and alumni at the Ohio State University demanding that the university keep its word and end the contract with Wendy’s until they join the Fair Food Program. The fast – taken on in the long history of peaceful action to reveal injustice – received support from faith groups including the Presbyterian Church (USA), T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and the National Farmworker Ministry.

Rachael Birri hasn't eaten anything in nearly a week. She's only been drinking water and tea, but the liquids don't prevent her stomach from rumbling during class.
"The first two days were rough … I'm relatively tired right now," she said.
Birri, a freshman majoring in environmental science at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, is one of 19 students who started fasting March 20 in response to the university renewing a lease that allows fast-food chain Wendy's to operate a restaurant inside the Wexner Medical Center on campus. 
… According to Birri, Ohio State officials had said the school wouldn't renew the lease unless Wendy's joined the Fair Food Program. "Extending the lease was a violation because those requirements were not met," Birri said.

Meanwhile, with student-powered action on the rise around the country, the Student Nation covered the parallel Boot the Braids campaign at the University of Florida:

GAINESVILLE, FL — […]  The march in Gainesville was the kickoff for a national CIW protest, the “Return to Human Rights Tour,” which concludes today with a vigil in Tampa. Over the span of two weeks, CIW members and their allies have toured cities across the US to mobilize support for the FFP. The CIW partnered with students at Vanderbilt, UNC Chapel Hill, and Ohio State—whose students completed a week-long fast in solidarity—to demand that their administrators pressure Wendy’s to sign onto the program. The 13-stop tour was the longest protest action of the coalition’s Campaign for Fair Food in the past decade, and included a protest in downtown Columbus, a few miles south of Wendy’s international headquarters, last weekend.
Members of CHISPAS, a UF student organization that focuses on immigrant rights and advocacy, and other UF students have been organizing against Wendy’s since the start of the Boot the Braids campaign. For many of these students, like 20-year-old CHISPAS secretary Lucero Ruballos, the Fair Food Program has directly impacted their lives. […]
[…] Over 90 percent of the Florida’s tomato growers have signed onto the Fair Food Program and farmworkers, including Ruballos’s aunt, have seen their wages and working conditions improve, said Patricia Cipollitti, an organizer with the Alliance for Fair Food.
“This is a program that’s been working,” Cipollitti said. “Farmworkers know their reality the most. They’re the ones who know what changes need to be made. That’s the key piece of this worker-driven model of social responsibility that works, rather than this top-down model of corporate responsibility, where those who design the audits and the systems for monitoring don’t actually have their eyes and ears on the ground or an interest in enforcing these kinds of standards.”
Despite this, Cipollitti said that Wendy’s has only become further entrenched in its opposition to the FFP. As a workaround, Wendy’s no longer purchases from Florida tomato growers and has drafted its own code of conduct, which the Alliance for Fair Food called “completely void of effective enforcement mechanisms to protect farmworker’s human rights.”
In response to Wendy’s entrenchment, the student campaigns have become more complex. This year, Ruballos spearheaded a three-pronged strategy that targeted other organizations on campus for support, reached out to students through marketing and social media, and engaged UF administrators by building up to the march with smaller demonstrations throughout the year. […]

At the end of the two-week tour, a final action in Tampa brought home the message to Wendy’s: This campaign is about strengthening real human rights for farmworkers – and it will continue until you do the right thing.  The Tampa Bay Times reports:

A brief protest and candle-light vigil outside the Kennedy Boulevard fast-food restaurant during rush hour Wednesday marked the final stop in the coalition’s 2,000-mile, 12-city “Return to Human Rights Tour.”
One after another, potential Wendy’s customers chatted with police officers and took photos with their cell phones before making a U-turn in the parking lot and heading to the nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell or McDonald’s.
“For me it means a lot because I see the changes where I work,” said Cruz Salucio, as he marched across Kennedy Boulevard while scores of Tampa police officers on bicycles held back traffic.
“Before the bosses felt like they could get away with anything and you were in an environment where you weren’t respected,” said Salucio, a 32-year-old who has worked in Immokalee’s tomato fields for about 10 years. “Now we’re starting to get the things that other workers take for granted, like being able to punch in and punch out so there’s a record of how many hours you work, or having access to shade and clean drinking water.”
Other extreme abuses in the fields, such as sexual harassment and wage theft, have also declined dramatically since the FFP’s inception, said the Rev. Noelle Damico, an organizer with the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative.
Students such 21-year-old Alex Schelle, a social services major at New College of Florida in Sarasota, have spread the movement to campuses across the country. Next week, students at New College will fast to draw attention to the coalition’s efforts, Schelle said.
“It’s really awesome how communities of faith and students can be drawn together to use their consumer powers to let these corporations know that this is already a successful program and all they have to do is join,” Schelle said.

And that’s just the beginning!  Below, we share the highlights from each tour stop:

Coverage of Columbus and OSU Fast

“The pain and power of fasting are familiar to us, and we know from experience that it is no small sacrifice. Right now there is always an empty seat at our table for Wendy’s to come sit with us.” – Santiago Perez, CIW

City by City Coverage of the Tour 

“But, how are colleges extra powerful? … If universities publicly cut ties with companies because they stand for conflicting values which strip people of their human rights, they land a huge blow on the company image. – Ania Szczesniewski, Vanderbilt University

Gainesville, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Nashville, Tennessee

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Madison, Wisconsin

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Nearly 300 exuberant Fair Food supporters welcome the Return to Human Rights Tour back to Florida with a rocking march through Tampa!

More than two weeks after embarking on an odyssey that would ultimately cover 14 states and over 2,000 miles, the Return to Human Rights Tour crew was given a warm welcome by nearly 300 of their closest friends in Tampa on Wednesday! The tour's grand finale included a massive march from a Publix Greenwise store in Tampa's Hyde Park neighborhood, to a Wendy’s restaurant on the highly trafficked Kennedy Boulevard, and a joyous rally looking to a future of an ever more powerful Fair Food movement.

People of faith from congregations in Naples all the way up to Orlando joined Immokalee farmworkers, students, worker leaders from local unions and grassroots labor movements, and a number of community organizations coming from as far as Palm Beach to take the tour's incredible energy home and finish off strong — leaving Publix and Wendy's with the message that, the longer they delay justice to farmworkers, the more united, steadfast and louder our movement's call will be!

Take a look at the CIW's website for a photo report of Tampa's sunny march and rally!

With that, the Return to Human Rights Tour is a wrap.  From the Sunshine State to its hometown of Columbus, Wendy’s felt the heat of a Fair Food Nation too long denied a simple request, perhaps best captured by CIW’s Lupe Gonzalo in Columbus:  Farmworkers want to live with freedom and dignity, and refuse to be forced to return to the dark days of wage theft, sexual abuse, and forced labor. Until that reality reaches all workers, we'll be back, and we'll be stronger.

Finally, thank you to everyone across the Fair Food network who supported the tour with their incredible generosity. Truly, it is thanks to a number of committed allies that the intrepid Immokalee tour crew was fed, housed, equipped, and certainly, accompanied in the many colorful, spirited actions of the tour! We hope to see you again soon.

“We want to continue to live with freedom and dignity”

After unforgettable Parade for Human Rights through a downpour in Columbus, UMich students commit to next leg of national rolling student fast in support of Wendy’s Boycott

The culmination of the CIW’s Return to Human Rights Tour is a wrap — and what a memorable weekend it was! Hundreds across the Fair Food Nation made their way to the heart of the Wendy’s Boycott in Columbus, Ohio, for the tremendous Parade for Human Rights.  A torrential rain could not stop nearly 500 farmworkers, students, religious leaders and consumers of conscience from demanding an end to Wendy’s shameful indifference toward human rights violations in their supply chain, together echoing the dozens of denominations and faiths that are exposing the drastic difference between Wendy’s dissembling Code of Conduct and the real, enforceable rights of the Fair Food Program.  

As the flood of marchers entered The Ohio State University campus for the closing rally, the sun broke through, and CIW members and allies celebrated an end to the 7-day fast undertaken by OSU students and alumni. And in a true moment of student solidarity, putting their bond in the fight for farmworker justice over campus rivalry, University of Michigan students made the commitment to be first in line to carry the fast forward....

Check out the stunning video and photo report from the major mobilization of the CIW’s Return to Human Rights Tour!

Return to Human Rights Tour kicks off the Columbus stop with a moving vigil, as OSU student fast enters Day Six with no commitment from the University

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From dawn to dusk, Friday was a momentous day for the Wendy’s Boycott and the national struggle for farm labor justice.

In the morning, as Day Five of their fast for farmworker justice dawned on their encampment outside OSU’s administration building, 19 student fasters, along with a team of farmworkers from the CIW based in Columbus for the past six weeks, prepared for their long-awaited meeting with OSU administration officials to discuss their concerns over human rights conditions in Wendy’s supply chain. Lifted up by support from allies nationwide, including scores that dedicated their own sacrifice on the National Day of Prayer and Fasting, students’ goal was unwavering: to demand an answer, once and for all, as to whether the university would honor its commitment to cut its contract with Wendy’s over the fast food giant’s refusal to join the Fair Food Program. 

Then later that afternoon, following seven days of growing excitement as the Return to Human Rights Tour made its way from Atlanta and Nashville to Minneapolis and Chicago, the tour crew of workers from Immokalee and their allies arrived to Columbus to join forces with hundreds of national allies for a weekend of action.

In a moving Friday afternoon vigil outside of Wendy's headquarters in Dublin, OH that kicked off the weekend, a delegation of religious leaders — hailing from several denominations of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism — joined CIW farmworker leaders to commend the student fasters and, right on their doorstep, call on Wendy’s to take a basic moral stand for human rights. 

In spite of all the obstacles set before the growing Fair Food Nation — be it by Wendy’s, by OSU’s administration, or by other forces working to turn back on the clock on basic human rights in this country — the convergence yesterday of scores of indefatigable farmworkers from Florida, courageous student fasters from OSU, and steadfast allies arriving from all over the nation made one thing perfectly clear: Columbus, Ohio, is indeed, today, ground zero in the battle for Fair Food.

Head over to the CIW website for a full report on the OSU student fasters’ meeting with administrators, and of the Vigil for Human Rights outside Wendy’s headquarters in Ohio!

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