Thank You Mr. Chavez

Cesar Estrada Chavez

(March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993)

Born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona Cesar Chavez was a farm worker of Mexican decent. In 1952 Chavez became involved as a labor leader and started working as a community organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group. Chavez’s leadership attracted the large Mexican and Latino community with his fight for worker’s right and became successful in involving the community in registering and voting. After gaining the support of his fellow people and all labor workers in California, he later became the national director for the CSO.

In the fallowing years he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association which later became known as the United Farm Workers. With his goals set on fighting for better work wages for farmers and labors, he help led many movements in California, Texas and Wisconsin boycotting the consumption of many common commercial fruits and the use of pesticide commonly used in agriculture. His movements became wide spread and soon gain the support of leaders such as Robert Kennedy. As a result of the popularity and support he gained, much of the movements resulted in the signing of bargaining agreements. His name became a common figure of speech and soon his success in his career was appraised by labor unions, schools, and facilities all around California. Cesar Chavez’s legacy ended with his death in April 23, 1993.

So what does Cesar Chavez have to do with the quality of your dinner salad? I believe he bought to the attention of the public that what we eat on our table on the daily basis may not be as healthy as many commercial ad portrays it to be. He brought to light the work done behind the blind fold, where much of the work is done by manual labor and much supported by the Mexican and Latino community. He pointed out the harsh reality that those workers endure to make sure we get our natural nutrients on a daily basis. And even on a bigger scale, he brought to the public’s attention the negative effects of using pesticide on our commercial goods as it has major biological effects on the food we eat, animals in and around farms, and ecological effects that do more harm on our natural resources than good. Not only did Cesar Chavez improve the quality of our food, he improved the quality of life and our resources as we strive to preserve it as our economy in California rapidly grows.