Driscoll’s Has the Resources and Know-How to Shift to Organics Around Schools – So Why Doesn’t It?

On May 3, on a dirt road dividing the MacQuiddy Elementary School playground from Driscoll’s berry partner Reiter Affiliated Companies in Watsonville, 100 local people gathered with labor activist Dolores Huerta to promote organic farming near schools.

“Throughout history, people grew food without pesticides,” Huerta said, “so why do we need them now? We need to put Driscoll’s in the bad company column and let the world know that this company is not a company that cares about its workers. It doesn’t care about the community, and it doesn’t care about consumers. … If you’re going to keep using pesticides, we’re not going to buy your products.”

Driscoll’s is the world’s largest berry company, valued at $3 billion, and controls one-third of the global berry market share, with 750 “independent” contract growers in 20 countries. Driscoll’s claims two-thirds of the market share in U.S. organic berries. Its world headquarters is in Watsonville, smack-dab in the middle of Pajaro Valley Unified School District.