Leftists call Chick-fil-A 'white supremacist, imperialist, capitalist' cult, demand university ban it

A college student environmental group referred to Chick-fil-A as a "white supremacist, imperialist, capitalist" cult and demanded that the University of Georgia ban the popular fast-food restaurant chain, Campus Reform reported.

Athens EarthStrike — which apparently boasts some members of the school's Athens Young Democratic Socialists of America group — said Chick-fil-A's "non-compostable packaging leads to much of the university's food waste" and that the restaurant "does not sustainably source poultry, which contributes to climate change via greenhouse gas emissions," student publication The Red & Black reported.

Therefore, Athens EarthStrike told the paper, UGA should ban Chick-fil-A.

"The industrial, white supremacist, imperialist, capitalist cults of Chick-fil-A and the Georgia poultry farms as a whole exemplify violence," the group added to Campus Reform. "One of the major poultry suppliers for Chick-fil-A is Koch. Koch targets the most vulnerable people in our immigrant communities to work as employees. Factories are built in low-income communities of color. These jobs are demoralizing, difficult and pollute the environment around them leaving communities in even worse living conditions."

Athens EarthStrike also told the outlet that it is "targeting Chick-fil-A because it is a central corporation in [Georgia]'s economy, and we think that it can do better if the people buying its products demand action. Chick-fil-A has made some strides in sustainability, but the company is short-sighted at best. While they plan to transition to antibiotic-free chickens raised in barns rather than cages, this is little more than a cheap marketing ploy."

What are the group's other demands?

Athens EarthStrike added to Campus Reform that Chick-fil-A should:

• No longer use styrofoam cups;
• Keep its promise to shift to hormone-free chicken; and
• End factory farming.

But EarthStrike wasn't content with those requirements; it also told the outlet that Chick-fil-A is bad for UGA in a social and moral sense.

"We demand that UGA stops supporting a corporation that actively practices both gender discrimination and LGBT discrimination," EarthStrike added to Campus Reform. "We are defending the freedom, livelihood, and health of the student body at UGA and will not stop until Chick-fil-A and UGA answers to these demands or leaves this campus!"

What did students have to say about the group's demands of Chick-fil-A?

"I personally think it's ridiculous," student Devon Spiva told the outlet. "UGA missed its sustainability goals by miles, so attacking Chick-fil-A solely is not going to solve anything."

Fellow student Erin Cooke — a former Chick-fil-A employee — added to Campus Reform that the restaurant is "the opposite of wasteful" but that EarthStrike's demands are far from shocking.

"I'm not surprised, honestly. It's nothing new," she told the outlet. "Those on the left continually go after organizations and companies ... they are threatened by [and Chick-fil-A] no doubt is one of the largest and most popular Christian companies. If Chick-fil-A was removed on campus, there would be an uproar from the student body. It's always the most popular restaurant with lines consistently going out the door."

What did the university have to say?

Campus Reform said UGA officials, when asked for a comment, simply said "dining services continuously works to implement sustainable solutions on campus."

What other diabolical stuff has Chick-fil-A been up to of late?

• An Alabama Chick-fil-A opened its doors on a Sunday earlier this month to grant the wish of a teen with autism on his birthday: To work at the drive-thru window. The Christian-owned restaurant is typically closed on Sundays.
• And after Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas last September, a Chick-fil-A location in the port city of Wilmington, North Carolina — which suffered a direct hit — prepared food for first responders and linemen working around the clock to restore power.
• When a power outage struck the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2017, Chick-fil-A — again on a Sunday — got to work to feed hungry travelers.
• When tornadoes ravaged north Texas in 2016, the Christian-owned eatery prepared food — once again on a Sunday — for delivery to first responders and disaster-response teams.

Chick-fil-A also has faced opposition because of its values, notably when officials from New Jersey's Rider University barred the restaurant from coming on campus because its "corporate values have not sufficiently progressed enough to align with those of Rider."

Pittsburgh's school board last October barred district employees and its schools from officially participating in a kids' run sponsored by Chick-fil-A due to support of traditional marriage at the corporate level, which has long irked LGBT and gay-rights advocates.