FROM FARM TO FORK:

area for the freedom of expression

by Natalia Espinosa
Since 1992, Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) has worked with farmworkers, students, and advocates in the Southeast and nationwide to create a more just agricultural system. Although some students may be aware of SAF or of the agricultural justice movement, many are unaware of its history at Duke.
In the fall of 1973, YM-YMCA followed the lead of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) and helped to organize a boycott of non-union iceberg lettuce on campus. The goals of the boycott were to gain higher wages and better working/living conditions for farmworkers. With the support of other students and faculty, notably Duke Dining Hall’s director Ted Minah, eventually the cafeterias began to sell union lettuce only. Although the official boycott did not last for a full academic year, Duke had made a worthy move in advancing farmworkers’ rights.
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The United Farmworkers' lettuce boycott (left) and a poster for Duke University's Student Action with Farmworkers (right)
The lettuce boycott, along with the grape and meat boycotts are important events to commemorate in Duke history because they represent a sacrifice. It is significant that the student body voted to do so, as influenced by their peers. Moreover, it was significant that Duke students chose to prioritize farmworkers’ rights, an issue often forgotten by general consumers and perhaps by today’s students.

​The Brodhead Center is the perfect place for a monument to SAF and the boycott movements. A reminder of the activism that was once so strong on our campus can be easily integrated in this space. A permanent collection of archival photos and documents on a wall would be informative for students sitting there can view it easily.
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Bulletin board exhibit of lettuce boycotts and farmworker solidarity movements
The collection of photos and documents include:
  • The Boycott Lettuce pin from the UFW, which student activists on campus wore
  • The UFW boycott poster
  • The official boycott ballot, which students in each dorm voted with in 1973
  • A picture of César Chávez
  • An audio device to play a snippet of Chávez speech at Duke, with the press of a button
  • A picture of the Duke dining hall in the 1970s with a text snippet about Ted Minah and his role as director during the boycotts
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