Following the 2018 Freedom Fast and Time’s Up Wendy’s March, the fast food giant
announced at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in June of that same year that it would be shifting its tomato purchases from Mexico to U.S. and Canadian greenhouses, responding to consumer pressure over the abysmal human rights conditions in Mexico’s produce industry. But as Wendy’s has seen with the major mobilizations that have followed, from the “How Much Longer, Wendy’s” March in New York to the
4 for Fair Food Tour this past spring, the Fair Food Nation will not rest until Wendy’s joins other fast-food giants – McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, and Chipotle – in supporting the only proven solution to ending human rights abuse in U.S. agriculture, the Fair Food Program.
We’ll leave the last word to the CIW’s Lupe Gonzalo, speaking to hundreds of cheering consumers in New York last July:
… Once again, we are here to demonstrate our strength. We have made it clear to Wendy’s that we will not give up until they join the Fair Food Program. After our fast of five days in this very same place, in the cold, enduring hunger, marching with 2,000 people in the streets of New York, we have taken an important step forward: Wendy’s will now only buy tomatoes from the U.S. and Canada. But another, bigger step remains – and that is to sign a Fair Food Agreement. We will not be satisfied until Wendy’s responds directly to us as workers – because to simply buy from greenhouses is not equivalent to ensuring justice and human rights.
So make sure to mark November 18th on your calendar, and stay tuned for more on November’s major mobilization in the weeks ahead!
