Voting With Your Pocket Book

In the 1980’s the third grape boycott began in the Central Valley of California. Table grapes were the central focus of all the boycotts, which was a smart move on the United Farmworkers part. Their only exception to not boycotting grapes for wine was a strike against the winemaker Gallo for odious labor practices.

Grapes, as meal sides, children’s snacks, salads and party favorites, have always been a delightful ingredient of any gathering. My having been raised in the Central Valley and having interacted with farmworkers, took the 80’s boycott seriously. It became one of my many post-college causes.

“No more grapes in my home!” was my declaration and I stuck to it. Bumper stickers supporting the grape boycott were on my car. In those days, if you went to a party and there were grapes on the table, you made a point of passing. Maybe even a judgmental thing might be said to the host. “You’re serving grapes?”

The third grape boycott officially went on until 2000, with the Los Angeles Times declaring it was over and doing a post boycott analysis that claimed it really didn’t affect sales. The father of farm labor unionization, Cesar Chavez had died seven years before without realizing the concessions his Farmworker’s Union had achieved.

At minimum was the public recognition that farmworkers bring our food to the table. Without farmworkers, our modern grocery stores filled with every imaginable item of food would not be the phenomenon it is, unknown in human history. One that many people in many countries cannot even fathom.

Boycotts do eventually work. Boycotts are more effective now because of the twenty-four hour news cycle and social media. “Memes” didn’t exist in the 80’s. It might have been helpful to the Farmworkers if Kid Rock were seen shooting up a pile of grapes or parents could have gotten on Facebook to urge other parents not to buy grapes.

Unlike the end of the grape boycott, in which the Los Angeles Time reported the boycott made no appreciable difference, a week after Target rolled out its “Pride Line” for kids, the L.A. Times reported the following:

“Social media users and conservative activists began calling for boycott of Target following the release of their PRIDE line last week. The company was valued at $160.96 per share on May 17, at a market value of $74.3 billion; as of Thursday morning each share was valued at $139.84.”

That was a $9 billion loss in “market cap” in seven days. Seven days. A loss that prompted a frenzied phone call by the suits to store managers to move that merchandise to the back of the store.

Which makes me wonder why Unilever (Ben & Jerry’s parent company) would step into controversy on the most proud, uniquely American holiday, the 4th of July? Did they not take note of the “Bud Light” spiral? No, because being super woke is in its corporate DNA, to hell with the shareholders. It’s reported that Ben & Jerry's CEO Dave Stever himself tweeted out the Mt. Rushmore statement to almost 500,000 Twitter followers.

In the last few years, Ben & Jerry’s has waded into other countries’ internal politics according to the American Marketing Association. These run-ins have proven Ben & Jerry’s is not without sin.

“Ben & Jerry’s worked with other Australian organizations to campaign against a $21 billion coal mine with the slogan, “Scoop ice cream, not coal!” The blowback against Ben & Jerry’s came hard and fast by way of Australian MP George Christensen, who called for a boycott of Ben & Jerry’s. Christensen accused the company of hypocrisy because of Unilever’s relationship with Wilmar, whose sugar mills are at the center of a dispute with Australian cane growers. Amnesty International found Wilmar’s Indonesian operations source palm oil directly supplied or in part from regions with severe labor rights abuses.”

I stopped buying my Ben & Jerry's favorite, New York Super Fudge Chunk, as soon as their announcement about the West Bank went viral. I’m perfectly happy with Hagen Das, Baskin-Robbins or Cold Stone.

Ben & Jerry’s is perfectly convinced that being woke drives its sales. So the boycott needs to spread beyond this brand to Unilever, the parent company, itself. Here’s a link to Unilever brands, many of which you probably have in your cupboards and closets right this minute. I suggest making a list and carrying it with you when you go to the market or drugstore.

https://www.google.com/search?q=unilever+brands&oq=unilever+brands&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l9.5401j1j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Unilever stock is already going down over the 4th of July debacle…let’s make it fall even further.