By; Mariah Muhammad

It may be time to say goodbye to your favorite 4 for $4.

On Thursday, Undergraduate Student Government unanimously voted to urge Ohio State’s administration not to renew its lease agreement for an on-campus Wendy’s, due to the company’s refusal to provide human rights protections to farmworkers. 

Located in Doan Hall, unless Wendy’s agrees to join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Fair Food Program, an award-winning program focused on ensuring humane wages and eliminating longstanding farm labor and sexual assault, the company’s lease will expire July 1.

Teresa Lebowitz, a second-year in public management and USG senator, said the legislation encompassed her responsibility to hold the university accountable. 

“This piece resonates with me because it highlights the importance of humanity over profits. Wendy’s refusal to join the Fair Food Program calls attention to their willful ignorance, and Ohio State idly participates in this ignorance when refusing to acknowledge Wendy’s wrongdoings.” she said. 

As one of the five largest fast-food corporations, Wendy’s is the last restaurant to reject the Fair Food Program, and is believed to have changed it’s policies in order to keep it that way. 

Currently, Wendy’s website states that they are “focused intensely on providing a safe and wholesome food supply.” According to the site, the company relies upon “third-party reviews” to determine if their suppliers comply with the company’s code of conduct. 

Greg Carson, a third-year in public affairs and psychology and fellow USG senator,  mirrored Lebowitz’s concerns. 

“[I] was unaware of the underlying actions of this franchise...farmworkers are literally risking their lives doing essential work that does go unnoticed, and it shouldn’t be that way,” he said. “I was interested in this resolution because I gained knowledge about the struggles farmworkers have to endure but also Wendys, a franchise I once thought was unproblematic.”

While national boycotts against the restaurant have bolstered student support on the issue, the latest resolution builds on a 2017 rolling fast, when 19 Ohio State students fasted for seven days, resulting in similar protests in dozens of schools. 

Later on, the senate also heard from a key leader of the CIW, Gerardo Reyes Chavez, who grounded the end of the discussion in the farmworker experience. 

“Eating includes the experience of workers, ” Chavez said.