November 17–18, 1988
Students fast in support of California grape boycott
Members of Nosotras and other students fasted on Thursday and Friday in an attempt to get Smith College to boycott California-grown grapes. They also passed around petitions to the same effect. The grapes were being sprayed with harmful pesticides that were potentially fatal to the workers who picked them, many of whom were Latino. The fast started at Harvard University, continuing on to MIT and Wellesley College. After Smith, Brown University planned to continue the fast. According to Paul Garvey, director of Dining Services, “There was an absence of any notable interest [concerning the boycott] on the Smith campus,” so Smith Dining Services decided to do nothing.
The full Sophian article on the fast can be found here (1, 3).
[Last updated on October 31, 2018]