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The fast food chain Wendy’s, which specializes in “classic American food,” has experienced its fair share of controversies. From serving food rich in trans fat, a type of fat that damages cardiovascular health, to releasing false information about the greenhouses in which their farmworkers harvest, Wendy’s has been at the center of the media’s attention during the past few years for poor reasons. Although they claim ethical practices, Wendy’s relies on the labor of Black and Latino farmworkers who experience unsafe working conditions, environments where sexual assault is prevolent, and a ring of poverty almost impossible to escape. Many of the workers for fast food chains such as Wendy’s have been classified as victims of modern-day enslavement due to their extreme circumstances. For around 7 years, laborers and activists have been fighting along with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in order to persuade Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program, an organization with a “unique partnership among farmers, farmworkers, and retail food companies that ensures humane wages and working conditions for the workers who pick fruits and vegetables on participating farms” (https://www.fairfoodprogram.org/). Through the Fair Food Program, farmworkers nationwide would be given more agency, freedom to make their own decisions, and the power to stand up for themselves and their families. Many other fast food restaurants have already partnered with the Fair Food Program, companies such as Taco Bell, McDonalds, Subway, and Burger King, and Wendy’s remains one of the only main fast food chains not involved with this initiative. Although collaborating with the Fair Food Program wouldn't fix all of the labor reform issues associated with Wendy’s, there’s no doubt that it would offer more protection to the farmworkers generating the produce needed to maintain this billion-dollar company. While researching Wendy’s, I received most of the information from “Boycott Wendy’s!” an organization devoted to taking action on Wendy’s human right violations; I have provided the link to the website below. Finally, making your voice heard can be facilitated by engaging with petitions; the following link is a Change.org petition demanding that Wendy’s join the Fair Food Program and protect the lives of thousands of tomato harvesters: https://www.change.org/p/wendy-s-we-re-boycotting-you-until-you-support-human-rights-for-farmworkers-boycottwendys

Coalition of Immokalee Workers, “SAVE THE DATE! 2021 Boycott Wendy’s Tour: “Essential Rights for Essential Workers” https://ciw-online.org/blog/2021/07/save-the-date-2021-boycott-wendys-tour-essential-rights-for-essential-workers/

Boycott Wendy’s! http://www.boycott-wendys.org/why-boycott-wendys

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, “USA: CIW calls on delivery companies to drop Wendy's until it joins the Fair Food Program; incl. company response”

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/coalition-of-immokalee-workers-calls-on-delivery-companies-to-drop-wendys-until-it-joins-the-fair-food-program/

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Taco Bell, the mainstream fast food restaurant that supplies an array of Americanized Mexican dishes, sources much of its tomatoes from domestic farms. Taco Bell came under fire in 2002 after a group of workers from Immokalee, Florida, protested the low wages and demanded to be paid one cent more per pound of tomatoes, which would result in a dramatic salary increase. After Taco Bell executives claimed that they had no say in this situation, and that this labor dispute was between the workers and their employers, an enormous boycott of Taco Bell products commenced, gathering support nationwide and attracting mass-media attention. This boycott even involved malls and universities preventing Taco Bell restaurants from operating. After three years of protests, Taco Bell and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) reached a settlement which resulted in labor reform for the tomato harvesters. This event has been integral to modern farmworkers’ rights because it “establishes a new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food industry and makes an immediate material change in the lives of workers” (The Guardian). Recently, “Yum! Brands,” the conglomerate that owns Taco Bell and other fast food shops such as KFC, PizzaHut, and The Habit Burger Grill, has come under criticism for multiple issues: environmental negligence relating to their sourcing of palm oil and paper, forcing its farms to sell their tomatoes at cheaper costs, which dictates low salaries for the laborers, and condoning prolonged work hours. To learn more about the plight of the Immokalee workers, the CIW, and the Taco Bell boycott, I have provided several news source links. Additionally, “Harvest of Shame,” a 1960 documentary created by Edward R. Murrow on the mistreatment of United State’s farm laborers and migrant workers can be accessed through CBS. Sadly, as this film illustrates, not much had changed in terms of the exploitation of agricultural workers since the 1960s until the 2005 resolution.

Los Angeles Times, “Florida Farm Workers Picket Taco Bell” https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-feb-25-me-farms25-story.html

The Guardian, “Farmworkers win historic deal after boycotting Taco Bell” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/mar/12/usa.duncancampbell

The Observer, “Taco Bell boycott finally ends” https://ndsmcobserver.com/2005/03/taco-bell-boycott-finally-ends/

WorkerCenters, “Coalition of Immokalee Workers” https://workercenters.com/union-front-groups/coalition-of-immokalee-workers/

Business Ethics, “YUM! Brands Under Fire for Palm Oil Sourcing” https://business-ethics.com/2011/07/11/1257-yum-brands-under-fire-for-palm-oil-sourcing/

“Yum! Brands Human Rights & Labor Practices Policy”
https://www.yum.com/wps/wcm/connect/yumbrands/c46006d8-a0ea-45bb-99ff-f77b4fadffcf/Human+Rights+and+Labor+Practices+Policy.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=n8OWUVK

The Washington Post, “Fla. Tomato Pickers Still Reap 'Harvest of Shame'”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2005/02/28/fla-tomato-pickers-still-reap-harvest-of-shame/ae78079b-b1a7-48d1-b22d-50cd6e067c58/