Stand with Farm Workers: Boycott Wendy’s
The National Farm Worker Ministry stands in solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in calling on Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program.
The Fair Food Program is a proven, worker-designed model that protects farm workers from abuse, ensures accountability in the supply chain, and raises standards across the agricultural industry. Major food corporations already participate.
Wendy’s does not.
As people of faith and conscience, we believe the food on our tables should not come at the expense of human dignity. Until Wendy’s joins the Fair Food Program, we are honoring the national boycott.
You can take action today.
Here’s How You Can Participate:
- If you would like strategies on how to form a delegation to visit your local Wendy’s, please contact us at nfwm@nfwm.org.
What’s Next?
Now that you’ve chosen how you’ll take action, here are your next steps:
- Find your local Wendy’s.
Use Wendy’s store locator to identify the location you’d like to contact.
👉 Find a Wendy’s near you - Take action — and let us know.
After you’ve made your phone call, delivered your letter, or mailed your postcard, please log your action so we can track our collective impact.
👉 Report your action here - Share on social media.
If you post, tag @Wendys, @FairFoodProgram, and @NFWMinistry so your voice is part of the public conversation.
Make Your Food Choices Count
Advocacy doesn’t stop with one action.
When dining out or grocery shopping, prioritize food items that are part of the Fair Food Program. Look for the Fair Food label and support businesses that partner with farm workers to uphold dignity and human rights.
Every responsible choice sends a message.
Advocate with your voice — and with your purchasing power.
Why Boycott Wendy’s?
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Instead of joining the FFP and its successful worker-driven model of social responsibility, Wendy’s supplier code of conduct contains no effective mechanisms for worker participation or enforcement. Wendy’s code represents the very worst of the traditional corporate approach to social responsibility, driven by public relations rather than human rights.
Wendy’s stands alone as the last of the five major fast food corporations in the country to refuse to join the FFP: McDonald’s, Burger King, Yum! Brands and Subway are all doing the right thing and participating in the Program. By refusing to join, Wendy’s is deriving a very real cost advantage over its competitors, while continuing to provide an alternative market for less reputable growers.
In a cynical move to avoid the issue of conditions of the U.S. tomato pickers in its supply chain and the call to them to join the Fair Food Program, Wendy’s had stopped supplying from Florida and purchased from Mexican suppliers instead. Following considerable consumer pressure, Wendy’s announced in June 2018 that it would begin repatriating the vast majority of its tomato purchases from Mexico, where conditions for farm workers can be even worse, to greenhouses in the US and Canada by the end of 2018. This change does not remedy its earlier indefensible decision to go to Mexico in the first place. Wendy’s must join the FFP.
NFWM Endorses the Boycott of Wendy’s
Since 2013, the National Farm Worker Ministry has called on Wendy’s to seize the opportunity to join the CIW’s Fair Food Program, a historic partnership among farm workers, Florida tomato growers, and 14 multibillion-dollar food retailers. Because Wendy’s continues to refuse to participate, in 2016 the NFWM Board endorsed the national boycott of Wendy’s, and we are committed to promoting the boycott through our networks and member organizations to encourage others to sign on to the boycott, to deliver store manager letters at local Wendy’s, and to participate in public actions.
NFWM Boycott Resolution
NFWM Press Release
NFWM boycott endorsement letter to Wendy’s
