“Make cucumber salad out of the state!”
I think of that slogan almost every time I make cucumber salad, as I often do and as I am doing right now. (Can’t stand squishy supermarket cucumbers but love them fresh off the vine or, in case of acute cucumber deficiency, from the Farmer’s Market.)
According to the Daily Bleed online calendar of radical history, the slogan dates to 30 May 1980 in Switzerland:
Beginning of the “movement of the discontented,” youth rebellion in Zurich, spreading throughout the country, involving thousands — young & not so young — in demonstrations & confrontations with police, demanding places where they would be free to meet & share counter-cultural experiences. Escalated into broader demands, one being “No Leaders!,” & another being: “Make Cucumber Salad Out of the State!”
The slogan went on to inspire the 1982 Cucumber Salad Calendar published by Left Bank Books as well as countless creative uses of food in anarchist actions. So, the next time you’re planning one of those subversive vegan potlucks, give a nod to the street-fighting Swiss — never thought you’d see that phrase, did you? — by including cucumber salad on the menu.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I remember seeing a photo from the Quebec Summit of the Americas protests, involving a catapult and airborn cucumbers, and not having a clue what it symbolized. Thanks for this!