In the late 1960s, grapes grabbed national attention -- and not in a good way. Newly organized farm workers, fronted by Mexican-American civil-rights activist Cesar Chavez, asked Americans to boycott the popular California fruit because of the paltry pay and poor work conditions agricultural laborers were forced to endure. Using nonviolent tactics like marches and hunger strikes, grape pickers made their plight a part of the national civil-rights conversation. It took time, but their efforts paid off: In 1970, after five years of the so -- called Delano grape strike, farm workers won a contract promising better pay and benefits.