Palettes Not Politics

Harvard students should not have politics imposed on their palettes. Agri-business is not loving to its workers in any area of the industry. While there are better conditions in the United States than abroad, the large number of illegal immigrants in agriculture makes it easy to circumvent legal workplace regulations.

This does not mean that we should stand by apathetically in the face of dangerous working conditions for workers. But if the standards that the staff is applying to the table grapes were imposed on other produce, the edible selection of fruits and vegetables would be even more meager than it currently is in Harvard's dining halls. Indeed, the staff cannot even guarantee that the grapes in question at Harvard will come from California, not Chile.

We should call for stricter government enforcement of existing labor and pesticide regulations. Nevertheless, the grape workers' plight as a union cause celebre should not override the inconsistency in the staff's logic that if universally applied would leave our tables bare.