Kids say the darndest things! Words from Ohio 3rd and 4th graders provide food for thought for Wendy’s CEO Emil Brolick…

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Photos, messages pour in from the Fair Food Nation…

With the launch of the “Now is the Time” Tour only a week away, supporters from every corner of the Fair Food Nation are getting into gear for the big spring action!  And as people begin to prepare for the two anchor protests of the tour in Columbus and Lakeland, more and more Fair Food activists are sending messages to Wendy’s CEO Emil Brolick and Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw ahead of the action to demand justice for the farmworkers who pick their Florida tomatoes.

Our favorite messages this week come from some very cute (and very opinionated!) third and fourth graders hailing from the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, whose members have been kind enough to offer to host the CIW crew for a meal during our visit to their neck of the woods.  The kids put pen to paper — showing some wonderful penmanship in the process (including the impressive, and all too rare, cursive of the message at the top of the post!) — and shared their thoughts about justice with an adult who should definitely know better.  Here are just a few examples:

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Of course, back home here in Florida the Fair Food Nation sent a few messages to Publix this past week, too.  In Homestead and Miami, longtime CIW allies at WeCount! are mobilizing their members and filling up buses for the final weekend of the Tour in Lakeland.  In advance of the tour, this inspiring group down in Homestead took some photos to make their own message to Publix very clear:

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And last but not least, right here in Immokalee more than 1,200 farmworkers sent their own message to Wendy’s and Publix this weekend, and they even made up their own little sign to take that message to the streets of Columbus and Lakeland on the tour!  The CIW threw its annual Year of the Worker party this past weekend and it was, as it is every year, a smashing success.  The parking lot outside the office was filled from end to end as CIW members gathered for a day of music and mobilization for the tour…

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… while in the backyard of the office, the children of Immokalee were busy crafting their message for both Wendy’s and Publix!  Kids got their hands — and feet — dirty putting their personal signatures on a very special sign for the Tour…

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… ending up with a beautiful piece of art as their final product, pictured here below, which reads: “Publix and Wendys: The children of Immokalee invite you to walk the path of justice with us.  Join the Fair Food Program!”

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And with that, we wrap up today’s post and look forward to seeing you — one week from tomorrow — as the Tour takes off on its ten-day, ten-city route to send its urgent message of justice and human rights for farmworkers to executives at Wendy’s and Publix.  See you soon!