Friday, October 25, 2013

March to Wendy's for Farmworker Justice! - Nov. 8

On Friday, November 8th, join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and their allies to march and picket at Wendy's. Nely Rodriguez from the CIW will be joining us along with other allies to gather at the Student Center on the Regis University campus to march to the Wendy's down the street on 50th and Federal. We will get to Wendy's during the busy lunch hour to deliver our message: the Denver community is in solidarity with the CIW to demand farmworker justice.

Friday, November 8th at 11:15- 12:30 pm
Gather: Regis University Student Center (50th and Lowell)
March to: Wendy's (50th and Federal)


Wendy's is the only one of the five largest fast food corporations to NOT sign onto the the Fair Food Program. In light of Wendy's founders week, Fair Food groups nation wide will be organizing in the beginning of November to tell Wendy's that the time is now for them to come to the table for farmworker justice.

For more information visit

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

A couple illustrations for the Wendy's Week of Action

The Wendy's Week of Action is going on right now! Check out the CIW website for some initial photos and reports.  And check back soon for a lot more to come.

Denver's small contribution comes in the form of a few illustrations.

First, a Fair Food-spin on an old masterpiece:
Taco Bell Chihuahua: "We hope others in the restaurant industry and supermarket retail trade will follow our leadership." -Emil Brolick, Taco Bell President, 2005
 
Wendy: NO WAY!! -Emil Brolick, Wendy's CEO, 2013
 
 Second, a couple versions of a classic wanted poster inspired by Wendy's branding:
 

If you'd like PDFs or JPGs of any of the above imagines, please contact us at DenverFairFood@gmail.com.  We're happy to share.
 
While we're posting, a Denver Fair Food member recently ran across a letter to the editor in the Lakeland Ledger, the hometown newspaper of Publix supermarkets.  The letter was a poor attempt to criticize the CIW's decision to target Publix as part of the Campaign for Fair Food, and so the Denver Fair Food member spontaneously decided to set the letter writer straight.  Turns out the CIW liked the response so much, they featured it on their website.   This being the Denver Fair Food blog, we'll share the link here:
 

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Denver Fair Food Delivers Manager Letter and Adopts a Wendy's!

As the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) demonstrates in New York City at the Wendy's Share holders meeting, Denver Fair Food has adopted a Wendy's location in North West Denver. Members of Denver Fair Food will be returning, on a semi-regular basis, to this location to educate Wendy's patrons on the struggle for Fair Food. In addition we engaged managers in conversation and hand delivered letters in support of the CIW.











Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Petition: Tell Wendy's to Join the Fair Food Program!

From SumOfUs.org:
For the last 20 years, there’s been a quiet revolution in the tomato fields of Florida. A group of immigrant farmworkers called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (or CIW) has been organizing to eradicate human rights abuses, like wage theft, sexual assault and in extreme cases, modern slavery which once ran rampant in the tomato industry, and improve working conditions and wages for people who pick the tomatoes we eat. They’ve made incredible progress, but now Wendy’s is standing in their way.
Most of the largest fast food chains, including McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, and Taco Bell have all signed on to the CIW’s Fair Food Program. They have agreed to pay an extra penny per pound of tomatoes to raise wages and only buy from fields where workers’ rights are respected. Wendy’s is lagging behind the rest of the industry and is refusing to sign the agreement, despite being asked five times since 2007.
Farm workers and their allies are planning to march in the lead up to Wendy’s shareholder’s meeting in New York on May 18, and we want to make sure they can bring along a huge petition to show than consumers are behind them. Last year, the SumOfUs.org community helped push Tra we know that big corporations listen when farmworkers and consumers stand together.
der Joe’s and Chipotle to join the Fair Food Program, so
There’s no excuse for Wendy’s refusal to sign on to the fair food agreement. The program adds an additional 1.5 cents per pound of tomatoes raise wages, guarantees improved health and safety measures, and implements a complaint system that allows workers to safely report grievances and get fair arbitration. Wendy’s management has the know-how to implement the program -- CEO Emil Brolick ran Taco Bell when that fast food giant signed the agreement after a historic boycott. Wendy’s is dragging its feet refusing to support the unprecedented changes taking place in Florida's fields today, recently heralded in the Washington Post as "one of the great human rights success stories of our day"
Worse, Wendy’s is misleading the public about the way it purchases tomatoes. It says it buys produce through a non-profit cooperative that ensures that workers are treated fairly. But the “cooperative” is simply a bulk purchasing system controlled by Wendy’s, and its stated purpose is to “provide more favorable pricing” to Wendy’s, not to protect workers from poverty wages and abusive conditions. Meanwhile, the “cooperative” isn’t accountable to workers at all, and Wendy’s has remained silent in the face of demands to disclose any enforcement mechanisms behind its toothless code of conduct.
Wendy’s need to know that consumers see what it’s doing, and that we’ll hold it accountable if it keeps burying its head in the sand.
Before the Fair Food Program launched, tomato pickers faced some of the worst labor conditions in the country without any effective form of recourse. But the CIW’s approach is working, and it’s been internationally recognized for its unprecedented success in protecting human rights. An advisory committee to the White House cited the fair food agreement in a report on the eradication of human trafficking as “one of the most successful and innovative programs” in the world today in the fight against modern-day slavery, and the United Nations has sent observers to study the program.
Tell Wendy’s to sign the fair food agreement and get on the right side of history.
 
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More information:
Old fashioned is right!, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, January 2013
"Fair Food Program helps end the use of slavery in the tomato fields" The Washington Post, September 2012

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Report-back: March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food

Come hear stories, eat some food, see a photo exhibit, watch video highlights, hear stories and listen to original music from the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food!

April 6, 6:00pm-9:00pm
at Colorado Progressive Coalition
1029 Santa Fe Dr. [map]

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers called for a 200-mile march to mark the incredible progress that has been made in Florida's fields, as well as, mark the path ahead - inviting those corporations that have yet to join the Fair Food Program.

The Denver Fair Food Committee answered that call with a delegation of students, young people, and community leaders that marched 200-miles in solidarity with the CIW and with the hope that together we will forge that new path for dignity and respect in the fields.
This will be a fundraiser to off-set costs for this delegation that rolled deep to represent the mile-high city's support for the Fair Food Program!

If you'd like to give now, click here to donate!

Come hear stories, eat some food, see a photo exhibit, watch video highlights and listen to original music from the march! 

Donations are greatly appreciated but no one will be turned away!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Denver presente! 3 more videos from the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food!

The March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food is now over. The 15-day, 200-mile action walking side-by-side with farmworkers and other allies was, by all accounts, a powerful experience for everyone who participated from Denver. Here are three more videos from Denver Fair Food members reflecting on their experience on the March.

Lani:


Alex:


Mu Son:


Check out the Coalition of Immokalee Workers website for more videos, photos, press and more!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Denver presente! Three videos from the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food

Today we're gonna share three videos from folks from Denver.  One from folks who recently returned from the March and two from folks who recently arrived at the March. All are reflections on their participation in the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food and the meaning of solidarity.

The first comes from the group from Regis University who recently returned from the March and almost immediately shared their experience with dozens of their schoolmates at a community dinner at the Regis-affiliated Romero House:


The second video comes from SFA Steering Committee member and Denver Fair Food organizer Joe Deras:



And finally, another Denver Fair Food member, Tania Valenzuela, shares her experience walking with the CIW on her first day on the March:



While we're on the subject of videos, be sure to check out the web page for the March where you'll find incredible videos which have at least as much beauty and heart as ours and maybe a leg up on us when it comes to technical and artistic sophistication.