Home > Exhibits > Introduction
Pesticides in the Fields
One of the UFW's most ambitious campaigns is the drive to ban pesticides. As early as the 1960s, Cesar Chavez and others recognized the dangers of exposing farm laborers to pesticides in the fields. Many farm workers who spend a great deal of time in direct contact with pesticides experience high rates of birth defects, cancer and life threatening burns. In the 1970s, Chavez and UFW vice-president, Dolores Huerta, successfully campaigned to ban the use of DDT on grape and lettuce ranches, but new chemicals brought new tragedies. Several "cancer clusters" occurred in towns in California's San Joaquin Valley in the 1980s. In these areas, leukemia and lymphoma-like cancers plagued large groups of children whose rate of cancer was 800% above the norm. In the 1990s, the use of dangerous pesticides has been reduced, but many farm workers continue to labor in freshly sprayed fields.
More Information On Pesticides:
Chavez, Arturo Rodriguez and UFW supporters demonstrate against the use of pesticides
Salvador DeAnda suffers from cancer and is another victim of the chemical Captan, 1986. Photos by Victor Aleman