CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS PROPOSITIONS 128 AND 135 : Farmers Try to Harvest Votes for ‘Big Green’ Rival

Bearing flowers, almonds and chocolate-covered raisins as gifts for voters, hundreds of farmers campaigned door-to-door in the San Fernando Valley Saturday for Proposition 135, a rival to the environmentalist-backed “Big Green” initiative on the Nov. 6 ballot.

About 600 farmers and family members arrived on buses from El Centro, Visalia, Coachella and other Central Valley and Southern California farm towns to walk Valley neighborhoods in what organizers said was the largest such event ever staged by California farmers.

“Hi, my name’s Chris McLain and I’m a farmer from the Central Valley and a group of us came to Van Nuys today to urge you to vote for Proposition 135,” said McLain, a plaid-shirted Visalia orange grower, as he handed a rose to one woman.

“No on proposition who?” asked the woman. “You have to read all these ballot things, and let me tell you, you just get more confused.”

While the farmers walked Valley neighborhoods, about 60 children and their parents gathered outside the Children’s Museum in downtown Los Angeles for a rally in support of the environmental initiative, Proposition 128. Folk songs, including one titled “Toxic Wasteland,” were sung while youngsters held placards bearing slogans such as “Do Not Intoxicate Me, I Am the Future.”

“I think the purpose . . . is to remind people that the issue is the children’s health,” said Harvey Karp, a Santa Monica pediatrician who entertained the children while draped in a huge piece of green cloth meant to represent Big Green, the proposition’s nickname.

The contrasting campaigns came just nine days before Election Day and at a time when The Times Poll showed voters almost evenly split over the ambitious Proposition 128. The poll found 44% against, 42% in favor and 14% undecided. That is considered a statistical tie, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points in either direction.

Proposition 135 would double testing for pesticide residues on fresh fruit and vegetables. It also would double production of sterile Mediterranean fruit flies and boost scientific research into alternatives to malathion spraying for Medfly eradication.

Proponents say it is a sensible alternative to the sweeping environmental measure. Among other things, Proposition 128 would phase out cancer-causing pesticides and require California to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 40%.

Farmers say a pesticide phase-out could badly damage California agriculture, pushing up domestic food prices and hurting farmers’ ability to compete in world markets. But backers of Proposition 128 argue that the farmer-supported alternative was placed on the ballot by the pesticide industry, and will weaken pesticide restrictions and lead to more contamination of food and water.

Yesterday’s drive by farmers marked the second time this month they have fanned out in suburban areas to campaign for 135. Last Saturday, about 600 of them buttonholed residents of Concord in Contra Costa County east of San Francisco, said Yes on 135 spokesman Robert Padgett.

Organizers said farmers were brought into the Valley to capitalize on their homespun appeal with voters identified as likely to go to the polls.

“Farmers have a lot of credibility with the American public, notwithstanding the fact that the news media likes to put the label of agribusiness on them,” said Rob Roy, president of the Ventura County Agriculture Assn., a trade group representing more than 100 farm-related companies.

Farmers said they used the same tactic successfully in 1976 to defeat Proposition 14, which was backed by the United Farm Workers union and sought to give union organizers the right to campaign on growers’ property.

But proponents of Proposition 128 dismissed the farmers’ canvass as a public relations stunt aimed at disguising Proposition 135’s financial backers.

“The chemical companies put 135 on the ballot to kill Big Green. So hiding behind some farmers is a clever tactic to hide the true identity of who’s behind the pesticide initiative,” said campaign spokesman Duane Peterson.

Farmer organizers said they hoped to contact 200,000 residents in Van Nuys, Canoga Park, Northridge and other West Valley communities during the three-hour sweep. Although many residents weren’t home, others were willing to listen to a pitch for 135 in exchange for a rose from someone as wholesome-looking as McLain.

Times Staff Writer Tim Waters contributed to this article.