A petition to change the name of Ohio’s capital from Columbus to "Flavortown," in homage to chef Guy Fieri, is making the rounds-- and its already collected tens of thousands of signatures.
According to the Change.org petition, the city’s name has been tarnished due to the contentious history of its namesake Christopher Columbus. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther even recently ordered the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue located in front of their city hall.
“The new name is twofold. For one, it honors Central Ohio’s proud heritage as a culinary crossroads and one of the nation’s largest test markets for the food industry. Secondly, cheflebrity Guy Fieri was born in Columbus, so naming the city in honor of him (he’s such a good dude, really) would be superior to its current nomenclature,” the petition explains.
The petition, which you can sign here, has reached 34,000 signatures out of a goal of 35,000, a number that was initially 25,000. One signer in the comments explained how Fieri’s contributions to the city have been much more fruitful than Columbus’, writing, “All joking aside, Guy Fieri has raised 20 million dollars for food service workers impacted by the pandemic. This act ALONE makes him far more worthy of a town named in his honor than Christopher Columbus,” they wrote. “History has PROVEN to us that Christopher Columbus’ 'contributions' to history were, at best, opportunistic capitalizations on a misunderstanding of the shape of the earth that ONLY benefited a select group of people.”
The petition concludes, “I’m not up to date on my Columbus town charter, so whether it takes a council vote or a petition or a town referendum – let’s get the ball rolling for a more flavorful tomorrow."
Let us know if you’ll be signing the petition or not.