Hunger Strike in Watsonville: Will the Organic Movement Stand in Solidarity or Remain Silent?

In Watsonville, California — one of the world’s best berry-growing regions — an unprecedented development is unfolding.

Two activists who were raised in the community, Omar Dieguez and Providence Martinez Alaniz, are on Day 17 of a 30-day hunger strike.

The reason: to get Driscoll’s and California Giant Berry Farms, which both sell products under conventional and organic labels, to stop spraying toxic pesticides on fields next to schools in Watsonville and convert these farms to organic.

But the hunger strike raises a question that extends far beyond this city in California: if these two individuals are willing to give up food to demand pesticide-free farming, are consumers and retailers willing to give up berries from Driscoll’s and the California Giant Berry Farms to stand in solidarity with them?

The dilemma is stark.