At a time when most of us are feeling helpless about all of the destruction being created by humans due to the election results from last November or the impact of the climate crisis, food is still an area where we have tremendous power. 

I have always seen food as a tool for social change—that is why I founded Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.).

I launched F.E.P. in 2007 when I had a full-time job at another nonprofit. I am very grateful that so many people helped me to start F.E.P. A friend who co-founded Dandies (a vegan marshmallow company) bought me a book on how to create an NGO from scratch. One of the suggestions was about the URL for the website and that it should represent what the organization is about, which is why I chose FoodIsPower. I truly believe it is.

When I got involved in activism, I was introduced to a book called Shopping for a Better World (I got my own copy in 1989!). The book taught me that I could oppose the apartheid regime by learning about certain companies’ statuses on animal testing, the environment, and more. As a teenager opposed to war, the death penalty, and apartheid, I didn’t feel I had much power. But this book allowed me the ability to protest these abuses with my food choices.

In fact, that is the main reason I went vegan (and I do include cosmetic testing, wearing animal products, etc.), as I love animals and that was the best way to remove myself from the cruelty inflicted upon them.

I could say that I was doing something to stop baby chicks from having the tips of their beaks cut off and mama and baby cows from being separated for the dairy industry. I could look at myself and know I was trying to live a life doing the least harm. I could promote kindness that included everyone and not decide some were more worthy of my compassion than others.

And now as I enter my 37th year of being vegan, I am grateful for all of the horrific animal cruelty I have not directly contributed to. 

I love devouring information about social justice movements and revolutions around the globe no matter what time period. Eventually, I began grasping at the idea of how much power food has. That is why during these times, I am hopeful that people will take this opportunity to relish the ability to have some power.

In a very tiny nutshell, here are some ways that food choices contributed to change. I want to make sure everyone keeps in mind the power we have with our food choices:

Sugar Boycott* – In the 1790s, as a way to speak out against the enslavement of people and the English government’s support of it, people in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England boycotted sugar. The majority were women who did not have the right to vote, but instead used this as a way to make their voices  heard. This effort, started by the Quakers, was incredibly effective by significantly dropping sugar sales. It also allowed abolitionists the ability to speak in opposition to it in Parlament showing the public would support the end of slavery.

A way that food was used without voting that spoke volumes.

Slavery was legally abolished in 1807 in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England and later in the U.S. in 1865.

Grape Boycott – In 1965, Filipino farm workers, led by Larry Itliong, started a strike against grape growers in Delano, California, to demand an increase in pay.

In December of that year, a formal boycott of grapes was called and eventually joined by what would become the United Farm Workers union, started by Cesar Chavez (who later became a vegan) and notable farm worker activist Dolores Huerta. Activists and customers around the country participated in the boycott and held pickets in front of grocery stores. 

The boycott was successful in getting union contracts for table grape growers that included better pay and protections.

As you know, farm worker rights have yet to be accomplished, but I highlight this as a transformative effort that brought critical protections to farm workers.

Anti-Apartheid boycott of foods/drinks — In 1959, a boycott was called on all South African products that supported the apartheid government. In the 1980s, a boycott was called of Coca-Cola and their investment in South Africa by the American Friends Service Committee.

The regime fell in 1994.

Coors Boycott (1970s) – The beer company had a history of discriminatory and homophobic hiring practices, but a series of campaigns nationwide helped overturn these practices. One of these was a boycott started in the Bay Area by queer activists and supported by LGBT community organizer Harvey Milk, who later became the first publicly gay elected official in the United States. Advocacy groups like Bay Area Gay Liberation convinced local bar owners to stop selling Coors beer. Demonstrations against Coors became so aligned with the gay rights movement that pride events were often filled with signs protesting the company right beside folks speaking out against racism, sexism, and other injustices. The boycott led to a 90 percent reduction in sales of Coors beer throughout the region.

Personally, I think boycotts for worker rights should only be followed and led by the workers, as boycotts should never be taken lightly. I have achieved some changes without ever needing to call a boycott.

As you can see, many of these took consistent pressure, determination, hope, creativity, and patience.  

They didn’t happen in a vacuum. And it wasn’t just a matter of one person; it was lots of individuals using their collective voices, as we must unite with all the power that we have to demand a better way of life for all.

One of the most beautiful, powerful, and positive ways in which food has created a legacy of inspiration is the Free Breakfast Program launched by the Black Panther Party in 1969. I wrote about it a number of years ago, and it continues to  show how beautifully we can support one another and how community helps community.

Even when they were being vilified by the government, the Black Panther Party provided for the community by providing free breakfasts for kids before they went to school. They knew that food served as a powerful tool to ensure that their students did well in school and reminded the students that they were important. Again, the government was so threatened by their work that it created its own free breakfast program. 

Clearly, there are numerous issues that cannot be impacted by our food choices; however, our food choices do have an impact.

When you are feeling powerless, why not take the power that you have and use it to represent the world you want to see—of empathy, compassion, and promotion of kindness and justice?

For those of us with privilege who eat more than once a day, why not take a stand with one another? We have the power.

*Boycott is a term coined by the Irish during the Irish Land War against an English Land “owner,” Charles Boycott.  The 1916 Rising for Irish Independence in Dublin is also a source of great inspiration, as are the writings of and about Steve Biko in South Africa.