Harvard students send message to Dining: 'Let them eat grapes'

The Harvard Crimson CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (U-WIRE) -- And grapes it is. A majority of Harvard undergraduates voted in favor of bringing grapes back to the school's dining halls, ending a long-standing, if slightly bizarre, boycott. The school had banned grapes in 1992, shortly after the United Farm Workers called for a national boycott of grapes, citing low wages for workers and protesting the policies of then-Republican California Governor George Duekmejian. But last week, 1,694 students voted in favor of introducing grapes into the dining halls, with 1,472 voting against the referendum. "I don't think anyone was very surprised with the outcome," said Harvard Dining Services Director Ted Mayer. About 50 percent of the undergraduate population -- 3,166 students -- voted on the referendum. The turn-out for last year's Undergraduate Council presidential elections, by contrast, was only 43 percent. Dining Project Manager Alexandra McNitt said grapes will likely make their return at brunch a week from this Sunday. According to McNitt, providing grapes to students will not always be an easy task. She said that grapes will probably not be available on a daily basis because "they don't lend themselves to be grab-and-go fruit like oranges, apples or bananas." For now, she said, Dining will serve grapes during brunch and at festivemeals. "I was pleased that the turn-out was one of the highest for any campus-wide elections," said Harvard junior Adam Kovacevich, chairperson of the ad-hoc Grape Coalition, an informal student group in favor of ending the boycott. "I don't think a 'Yes' vote was a sign of Harvard students turning their back on farm workers," he added. Those in favor of the boycott expressed disappointment with the outcome, but said they were encouraged by the small margin between those who voted in favor and those who voted against the referendum. "My first response was complete anger," said Harvard sophomore Sergio Campos, chairperson of the Latino Political Committee. "But as I calmed down I have come to realize that? this is not a clear mandate on what students really want. There are students that care [about the workers]." Campos said Dining cannot ignore the needs of the 46 percent of voters who supported the boycott. Progressive Student Labor Movement head Daniel Hennefeld said the vote "shows that some students consider the fruit they want to eat in the dining hall more important than issues of justice." But United Farm Workers spokesperson Marc Grossman said the organization is not that discouraged by the results of the referendum. "I think Harvard is important symbolically, but the focus of the UFW is on other things," he explained.