Month: January 2016

A View of Salinas Chinatown

Salinas Chinatown, a six block, twenty-nine acre neighborhood, is a refuge for members of our society who have been marginalized and discriminated against. Taylor Farms, the world’s largest producer of cut vegetables and salads, built their new five-story headquarters in Oldtown Salinas, with a view of Chinatown.

[ View of Chinatown, in the background on the other side of the tracks, from the Monterey Street Parking Garage on E. Market Street in Salinas. ]

Salinas Chinatown, a six block, twenty-nine acre neighborhood, is a refuge for members of our society who have been marginalized and discriminated against. In March 2015, the Salinas Downtown Vibrancy Plan was approved by the city council “to address serious needs to update Downtown’s infrastructure to assure pedestrian safety, calm vehicular traffic to encourage increased bicycle use, provide a sustainable parking strategy, and create a sense of place through art and culture that attracts visitors to a new, safe destination.”

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Boycott Driscoll’s Action in Watsonville

Workers who grow, harvest, and pack Driscoll’s lucrative berries are struggling against the systematic abuses they are forced to endure, and the companies profiting from the exploitation of their collective labor.

[ Gloria Gracida, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of National, State and Municipal Organizations for Social Justice based in San Quintín, Baja California, informs shoppers at Mi Pueblo Market in Watsonville why they should boycott Driscoll’s. ]

On January 2, a couple dozen people kicked off 2016 with a protest in Watsonville, where Driscoll’s, the world’s largest distributor of fresh berries, is both headquartered and first began producing strawberries in 1904. The demonstrators are amplifying a campaign initiated by farmworkers in Washington State and Baja California to boycott Driscoll’s strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Workers who grow, harvest, and pack the lucrative berries are struggling against the systematic abuses they are forced to endure, and the companies profiting from the exploitation of their collective labor.

On the website Káráni: Escribir o Volar, Tomás Madrigal documents the boycott launched by farmworkers in 2013 against berries grown at Sakuma Brothers Farms in Burlington, Washington. In response to the successful boycott against their brand, Sakuma Brothers shifted production in 2014 and began packing fresh market berries exclusively into Driscoll’s label cartons.

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