Students have ended a three-day hunger strike at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). The hunger strike was a direct consequence of the university’s failure to remove Taco Bell from campus. Students maintain that as long as Taco Bell remains on campus, GVSU continues to violate its own declared ethical standards.
Students have released a statement on the end of their hunger strike:
The success of this hunger strike, although seemingly subtle, cannot be underestimated. Since 7:00 A.M. Monday morning, when the hunger strike began, we have had the opportunity to witness and actively engage with an overwhelming amount of supporters, some of whom we were previously unaware existed. A wave of national hunger strikes began last week at Notre Dame and will from Grand Valley continue on to the University of Florida. We support University of Florida in their actions and will continue to initiate our own until universities and Taco Bell accept their responsibility and change their policies to reflect the values of human rights. We look forward to meeting with administration at our own university with the determination of meaningful dialogue and with confidence that Grand Valley State University will uphold the ethical standards that they themselves put into place — ultimately requiring the University to cut the contract with Taco Bell. Despite the end of our hunger strike, we will continue to act in support of exploited workers and in conjunction with a larger, national campaign.
The campaign will be continued in a series of meetings with administration officials over the next week and a resolution that goes before the GVSU Student Senate today that expresses support for the removal of Taco Bell.
People can help the campaign by sending an email to administrators urging the university to uphold its own ethical standards and remove Taco Bell. The group has setup an automated form to email the administrators, a process which only takes about 30 seconds but is immensely helpful in applying external pressure on the administration.
The hunger strike at GVSU was part of a nationwide string of hunger strikes in response to Taco Bell’s continued refusal to pay more for tomatoes it purchases from Florida. The hunger strikes began last week with a 7-day hunger strike at Notre Dame and will continue next week at Central Michigan University and the University of Florida.
MediaMouse 