Before I start this piece, I want to explain that I am not criticizing anyone’s personal dietary choices. I'm sure that some people might feel that I am criticizing their decision to eat vegan, which is most certainly not the case. What you choose to put in your body is entirely your own choice and I respect that entirely. However, I would like to respond to some of the comments I've seen in the increasing number of posts that attack non-vegans for choosing to eat meat because of the violence in the industry. Yes, this argument brings much-needed attention to the issue of animal mistreatment. However, I want to address the idea that eating vegan automatically makes someone a more responsible consumer. This is completely false. Actually, social justice, sustainability, and alternative food are not always connected and in fact, the continued commodification of “vegan” goes against the movement itself.
Let’s get real for a moment: someone had to pick those vegetables you're cooking. Just like someone had to butcher an animal for meat. The food industry doesn't just employ unfair and exploitative practices towards animals, but also towards the farm workers. Farmers are not required by law to receive minimum-wage payment, nor do they need 16 employees in order to work the fields. Let’s underline this: vegetables and fruit you buy from Whole Foods or New Seasons are often picked by underpaid, overworked laborers who are too terrified to report this abuse to the authorities.
Recently the Sakuma Brothers in Washington have come under fire from for their mistreatment and outright exploitation of undocumented laborers. Currently, a farm worker union is leading an on-going boycott of this company as a result of these reports. However, this berry business continues to supply fruit to a number of other companies, including the brand Driscoll Berries. I have personally bought these berries many times in the past because they are cheap and delicious and are conveniently found at Whole Foods, Costco, and Safeway. While it's difficult to imagine that fruit could be a source of human abuse, it's been proven true through multiple reports and protests. These fruits are most certainly the result of exploitative and inhumane labor practices. Similar cases of abuse are common throughout the entirety of the West Coast and often result in brutal rapes, physical assaults, and vicious harassment. In almost all of these reports, workers have faced serious consequences for coming forward, including losing their jobs or being more heavily harassed. Yet it seems there is very little coverage or public interest in the continued circumstances of farm workers in the United States.
So yes, Portland is one of the most “vegan-friendly” places in the country and quite possibly the world. Yet, there is an ever-increasing multitude of cases implicating migrant workers in this area. Some studies have linked rising rates of cancer and birth defects in part to a number of chemicals that farmers and their families are exposed to in the Pacific Northwest.
This continued violation of human rights paints a darker and disturbing picture of the food industry. There is something seriously wrong with buying fruits and vegetables over meat because they contribute less violence or fear. It is simply not true. This is not an attack on anyone’s dietary preferences, but a reminder that the food industry is much more complex than we imagine it. If society needs cruelty-free food, then I think we need to advocate for both animal and human rights in the food industry. Both of these issues are not separate but deeply intertwined. So let’s make sure that both animals and farm workers receive justice and humane treatment so no matter your dietary choice, we all can enjoy the “fruits” of fair labor.
If you are interested, click the links that discuss the mistreatment of farm workers!
http://www.fachc.org/pdf/mig_pesticide%20reserach%20May06.pdf
