In New York City, dozens of farmworkers with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are in the middle of a five-day fast outside the Manhattan office of Nelson Peltz, the board chair and largest shareholder of Wendy’s. They are demanding Wendy’s sign onto the Fair Food Program, which would require the fast-food giant to purchase tomatoes from growers that follow a worker-designed code of conduct that includes a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and abuse in the fields. This is farmworker Nely Rodriguez.

Nely Rodriguez: “It does not discourage us. On the contrary, Wendy’s refusal thus far to join the Fair Food Program gives us the strength to be here as women, as mothers with families, as young people, the entire community of Immokalee who is here to fight for respect in the fields where Wendy’s buys its tomatoes, and to show through our fast that we have a powerful commitment to this struggle. We’ve left behind our homes to show Wendy’s what this means to us, to show them that we’re committed to creating change for all women.”