The Rev. Les Singleton held a disassembled hamburger and pointed at its single, tiny tomato slice.
He was part of a protest Thursday afternoon attempting to encourage Wendy’s to pay farm workers a fair wage for the tomatoes they pick.
“You’d have to use a whole bag full of hamburgers to go through a pound of tomatoes, and we’re asking for a penny a pound,” said Singleton, a 70-year-old pastor.
Singleton and about ten others were at the Wendy’s on 1711 N. Main St., on behalf of the Gainesville chapter of the Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
The two groups sought passage of the Fair Food Agreement, said Richard MacMaster, a retired UF history professor. He said Thursday’s goal was to push for Wendy’s to agree to the same deal other companies have.
MacMaster said about 95 percent of tomato growers back the agreement, but its success depends on buyers’ support.
Candy Herrera, a 27-year-old UF Latin American studies graduate student, said about 80 percent of all tomatoes purchased in the U.S. are grown in Immokalee.
“All the processes that go into getting the food there so conveniently for you ... comes at the disenfranchisement of other people,” she said.
