For over three years, thousands of farmworkers and allies – people of faith, students, young people, food justice advocates, and community members – across the country have given Wendy’s one too many chances to make things right. Over this time, we’ve united to demand that the fast food holdout do its part to strengthen and expand the never-before-seen rights farmworkers are protecting in the fields today.
Last Valentine’s Day, the Fair Food Nation bombarded Wendy’s with Fair Food messages, making it known that the flashy new image Wendy’s is cultivating won’t work to distract conscious, change-ready consumers from the reality that lies behind what the company wishes to portray: old-fashioned exploitation, and a failure to take responsibility for the abuse of farmworkers in its supply chain. Soon after, at the 2015 Concert and Parade for Fair Food, student allies declared a national student boycott of Wendy’s. Since then, hundreds of students have been fighting Wendy’s frosty heart with frozen wallets.
Most recently, in November, Wendy’s released a glossy – and empty – Supplier Code of Conduct. We see this for what it is: an attempt to sway customers by brushing over real, verifiable Worker-driven Social Responsibility, and substituting it with a flimsy set of aspirational standards without any effective enforcement mechanisms.
And so, as the kickoff to the CIW’s Workers’ Voice Tour nears on March 2, the Student/Farmworker Alliance is inviting allies across the #FairFoodNation to, once again, remind Wendy’s that consumers are kissing goodbye to the retailer's empty promises until they join the Fair Food Program!
This Valentine’s Day Weekend, take action alongside Fair Food allies from coast to coast by submitting short videos to Wendy’s on social media! Be sure to include your name, where you’re joining from and why you’re breaking up with Wendy’s this V-Day. Upload your 30-second video to Facebook or Instagram, or send it over to organize@allianceforfairfood.org. Don’t forget to tag @Wendys, @sfalliance, and @alliance4ff!
Happy Valentine’s Day Weekend of Action!
-The Immokalee Crew