Nixon Eats Lettuce

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In August 1970, the United Farm Workers called for a nation-wide boycott of all lettuce growers in the Salinas Valley.  The boycott was to protest the poor wages and living conditions of the lettuce pickers, many of whom were unskilled migrant workers.  Approximately 10,000 farm workers went on strike, and over the next three weeks, lettuce production dropped approximately 70%.  The price of lettuce almost doubled, and shipments of fresh lettuce nearly ceased.  Nixon publicly opposed the boycott and criticized its leaders.  Persistence on the part of the United Farm Workers led to the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, but the boycott was not formally ended until 1978.