Farmworkers are essential workers, ensuring that Americans are fed, and yet the very nature of farm labor puts them at increased risk for infection from COVID-19. This risk is compounded by the fact that most of these low-wage workers are Brown, Black, and Indigenous people of color, statistically proven to suffer higher rates of severe outcomes from COVID-19, including death rates that are 2.3 times higher for Hispanic Americans than white Americans.

Given the Fair Food Program’s (FFP) unparalleled success, its adoption by Wendy’s main competitors, and the severity of the human rights risks in U.S. agriculture – especially in light of COVID-19, and at a time of global reckoning over racial justice – it is incumbent upon the company to join the FFP.

ICCR organized a sign on letter that was sent on April 7, 2021 to Mr. Nelson Peltz, Chair of Wendy’s, urging the company to join the FFP.  

A coalition of state treasurers - including Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin- sent a letter to Chair Peltz in support of ICCR's engagement with Wendy's in March of 2021.

You can learn more about the Fair Food Program in this one-page summary for investors.