Voting With Your Fork
Groups promoting political and cultural nationalism—Red Power, Black Power, Brown Power—created alternative food production and distribution systems to address disparities in food access. They also boycotted and struck against foods and practices that wronged people—farmworkers and low-wage laborers—or the environment. Through philosophies expressed on T-shirts, recyclable bags, buttons, bumper stickers, books, and posters, countercultural advocates connected food and politics in ways that persisted into the 2000s.
Appalled by the conditions and low wages endured by farmworkers and laborers, consumer groups and labor unions organized long boycotts and strikes against big produce growers and bulk wine producers.
Co-op bag, 1971
Gift of Judy Chelnick
This reusable bag from the Cleveland Food Co-op reflects the ethos of many college campuses in the early 1970s. The volunteer-run co-op kept prices affordable and carried organic produce and bulk grains not available in supermarkets. The bag’s owner was a loyal co-op shopper and reused the bag in support of the growing environmental movement.
“The Maryland Food Co-op 10th Anniversary Party,” 1986
Gift of Roger Hecht
