The #BoycottWendys Controversy, Explained

From ELLE

Wendy's, the only fast food chain where you can get a Frosty, is also the only fast food chain that has refused to join the Fair Food Program (FFP), which was established in 2011 as a partnership of farmers, farmworkers, and food retailers committed to ensuring humane wages and working conditions for the laborers who pick fruits and vegetables on certain farms.

Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, and Taco Bell are all on board, and yet Wendy's has held out. Not surprisingly, Wendy's refusal to get on board with basic human rights has become increasingly problematic-and that all came to a head this week.

FFP was founded by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)-Immokalee is a regional agricultural center in Florida where 90 percent of the nation's tomatoes are grown. Rather than join onto FFP, according to boycott-wendys.org, Wendy's cut ties with its Florida growers in favor of Mexican tomato suppliers. (A 2014 series in the Los Angeles Times detailed child labor, sexual harassment and other abuses on Mexican farms.)

Last week, from March 11 to 15, farmworkers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and consumers decided they'd had enough. They picketed and fasted outside the Park Avenue office of Nelson Peltz, Wendy’s largest shareholder and chair of its board of directors.

The group, many of whom were women, sought to highlight the sexual violence many female workers are subjected to within the industry; a commitment to the FFP from Wendy's would give a voice to this risk. The Freedom Fast, as it was nicknamed, represented a brave continuation of the #MeToo movement from a particularly marginalized demographic.

Wendy's wasn't pleased. Company spokesperson Heidi Schauer told The Huffington Post, "There’s no new news here, aside from the CIW trying to exploit the positive momentum that has been generated by and for women in the #MeToo and Time’s Up movement to advance their interests."

Unsurprisingly, that statement didn't go over well with Alyssa Milano, who's been deeply committed to the movement.

Milano posted a 406-word response on Twitter, writing: "If you really want to get on the wrong side of the Time's Up movement, keep using our name to attack and belittle farmworker women who are fighting to keep themselves and their sisters safe from rape in the fields." Amy Schumer reposted Milano's sentiments on Instagram. Wendy's hasn't yet responded to Milano. In the meantime, the brand has made time to tweet about the issues it cares about most: steamed ham and fresh beef.

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