Jackson Lashes Out at Grape Growers, Stores : He Joins UFW Supporters at Market to Assail ‘Environmental Violence’

The Rev. Jesse Jackson joined more than 60 United Farm Workers union supporters at a Ralphs supermarket in Boyle Heights on Monday to chastise growers who use agricultural pesticides and those stores that sell their produce.

Jackson, flanked by Los Angeles City Councilmen Richard Alatorre and Robert Farrell, compared the growers’ use of pesticides to “environmental violence” against farm laborers and consumers alike.

Ralphs, along with Safeway and A&P; markets, has been targeted by UFW union leaders in their campaign against five pesticides and to gain support for the union’s 4-year table grape boycott.

“I don’t understand why they have pinpointed us on the grape issue,” said Kerry Hodges, vice president of produce at Ralphs. “The grapes we sell have been certified to have no pesticide residues detected.”

Hodges said that on July 14, Ralphs moved to allay consumer concerns about the potential threat of pesticides by contracting with a firm that tests and analyzes fresh produce. The firm, NutriClean of Oakland, certifies that the grapes sold by the supermarket chain are free of dangerous chemicals.

Stan Rhodes, president of NutriClean, agreed and suggested that the protesters “could have picked a better target.”

“Why pick on Ralphs?” Rhodes asked. “But there are other retailers carrying products they could attack.”

However, the UFW said such certification is not foolproof. Dr. Marian Moses, a UFW supporter and expert on the effects of pesticides, has said that “it is misleading to tell consumers that certified produce is pesticide-free.” Most certification methods, she added, do not test for all potential pesticides and often only examine samples of produce purchased in huge lots.

“In reality it can only be stated with certainty that it is free of the pesticides that it was tested for,” Moses said, “within the limits of detection of the method used.”

Jackson responded to critics who say it is unfair to boycott grapes when other fruits and vegetables are also treated with the same pesticides by saying, “You have to choose to begin somewhere.”

“The success of the boycott will have great implications for other industries that use poisons,” Jackson said.

Feels ‘Spiritually Stronger’

Jackson also said he felt “physically weaker but spiritually stronger” on his second day without food to show support for UFW union leader Cesar Chavez, who on Sunday resumed eating after fasting for 36 days.

Chavez broke his fast at a Mass in Delano attended by more than 7,000 farm laborers, politicians and celebrities. After the Mass, Chavez handed Jackson a small cross made of twigs to symbolize the start of what Jackson has called “a chain of suffering.”

“We are obligated to Cesar in a special way for sacrificing his body,” said Jackson, who wore the cross on a gold chain around his neck at the press conference Monday. “Cesar must not bear the cross alone while the rest of the world goes free.”

Jackson plans on Wednesday to give the cross to the Rev. Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, in Chicago. Lowery, in turn, is scheduled to give the cross to actor Robert Blake on Saturday during a rally in Washington to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington.

“We will out-suffer the opposition. We will out-sacrifice the opposition. We will out-last the opposition,” Jackson said. “We will not surrender because we know we are morally right.”

Chavez, who lost 33 pounds during his fast, was taken to an undisclosed location after Sunday’s Mass to receive liquid nourishment and to recuperate. He is to receive a liquid diet for a week to 10 days until he is phased back to solid foods.

His physicians will continue to monitor his progress and diet, UFW spokeswoman Lorena Parlee said.

The doctors said the farm labor leader’s uric acid level, which became dangerously high during the fast, should begin to normalize, she added.