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Denver Fair Food does it again with another wildly creative protest, this time demanding that Wendy’s stop stalling and join the Fair Food Program…
Last week the streets of Denver were filled with ponytailed, red-haired bikers on a circuit ride for justice, as members of the city’s incredible Denver Fair Food crew toured Wendy’s restaurants in downtown Denver and called for the hamburger giant to stop standing in the way of progress and do its part to end farmworker exploitation by joining the CIW’s Fair Food Program:
Creativity has long been a hallmark of the Campaign for Fair Food, from the dirty-laundry-march through Yum’s hometown of Louisville, KY, to the walk-ten-miles-in-a-farmworker’s-shoes-march on Burger King’s headquarters in Miami, but never before has there been a “Tour de Fair Food” like that organized in Denver last week. Not only did the participants put their protest on wheels, but they also put some serious work into the art that they deployed at every stop along the tour route:
To bring the action even more to life, we are pleased to share a firsthand report from one of the bikers, describing the ride and the reception they encountered from Wendy’s managers along the way:
“Inspired by the warm weather and bicycle culture in Colorado, Denver Fair Food (DFF) decided to gather Fair Food bicyclists for a “Tour de Fair Food”, journeying to a couple of local Wendy’s stores. Yesterday, people gathered in front of the state capitol with bikes, Wendy’s braids, and brightly colored flags. The group was ready to tour the city and spread the message of farmworker justice accompanied by a fully decked-out Fair Food truck.
We rode through the city to our first Wendy’s location about a mile away from the capitol located on a busy intersection. There we dropped our bikes and picked up our Fair Food art. While part of the group was chanting outside a small group prepared to do a delegation. The delegation was stopped at the door by two managers who seemed to have been on the phone with corporate as we walked towards the door. They told us that they would not accept “solicitations” or allow people to go in with “propaganda”. The delegation reported this exchange to the Fair Food group who decided that we would make the point clear from outside the establishment.
After 30 minutes of chanting the bike tour moved on to their next Wendy’s location about two miles away. The group thought to take a different approach at this Wendy’s and the delegation prepared to go in before any chants started and they removed anything that could be confused as “propaganda”. To our surprise the delegation was once again met at the door by the same manager who had refused us entry at the previous Wendy’s. Seeing that the delegation had once again been turned away, the group outside was fired up to make their point heard from outside the Wendy’s.
One of the crowd’s favorite messages shared from outside the Wendy’s was, “Just as your Steakhouse Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe will only be here for a limited time, so will your resistance to the Fair Food Agreement.” Despite being turned away at the door two different times in the same day, the Fair Food group agreed that it was a fun and powerful action which revealed Wendy’s growing fears of the Campaign for Fair Food. We left confident that Wendy’s resistance will last for a “limited time only.”
Denver Fair Food”
Be sure to click on the DFF Facebook link above for more great pictures from the action, and check back again soon for all the latest from the Campaign for Fair Food, including reports from two standing room only screenings of the great new documentary “Food Chains” in San Francisco and LA!