If you know me, you know that I will like any movie, song, or even celebrity who speaks against injustices that are taking place. In fact, I sometimes wonder if I read politics into things unnecessarily.

Ironically, though, I do not see the work that Food Empowerment Project (F.E.P.) does as political; however, it seems others do. Is it because we use terms like environmental racism and food apartheid and promote that animal organizations should unionize?

I know that I used to do my own little tests when I would fly. I would tell some people sitting beside me that I was an animal rights activist and others that I did animal protection. The responses I would get were pretty drastic. In fact, when I spoke to them more about the animal protection work I did and veered off the conversations from cats and dogs and to the fact that the work I did was about not consuming animals, well, somehow that seemed to help the conversations end.

I get it. I guess people in this country think that anytime someone is possibly infringing on their rights, then it must be political.

To me, animal rights and veganism are really quite simple since it’s about not wanting to cause harm to animals, and I in no way see how that is political.

Why is caring about animals political?

And so, that goes to the heart of the work we do at F.E.P.

Broken down simply it means: Not wanting to cause harm to animals, wanting farm workers (all workers) to be treated and paid well, not supporting slavery and child labor, and wanting ALL people to be able to access healthy foods (i.e., vegan foods).

Am I saying being political is a bad thing? Definitely not; however, the problem is that people make our work political.

When people make our work political, it changes the basic premise of our work, which in my mind is simply compassion, justice, and well, even common decency.

For some reason, in this country the ability of Black, Indigenous, and Brown communities, as well as immigrants, to access healthy food is a political issue rather than a right that everyone should have. You can even tell where many people stand on this issue based on their political affiliation or politicians they support.

Racism and classism make it difficult for Black, Indigenous, and Brown people to access healthy foods. And racism and classism should not be political: they are just immoral.

Preventing workers from having a voice, being paid a living income or wage, and having benefits are all a product of capitalism again seen as political when they are just unethical.

And somehow to vegans, when we simply start talking about how workers are treated for the food we eat or that not everyone has access to fresh fruits and vegetables, it is somehow seen as not only hurting the animals and off topic, but we’re told that we shouldn’t comment on issues that they feel are political and should stick with the issues impacting non-humans.

I remember someone asking me during the Q&A after one of my talks, “What about Republicans and Conservatives who are vegan but don’t agree?” I told them that F.E.P. was not for them, and there were plenty of organizations they might feel more comfortable with. I didn’t mention any political parties but the basics of our work and immediately, an alarm went off that our work was political and might offend some for what I would consider ethical issues – not political.

To me these issues are a very basic part of how society should function; however, they seem to counter the norm in this country.

So I learn to play the game—our work is political; that is the answer, but to me, it is more about how society should function, doing the least harm, protecting everyone, and taking care of each other. And, well, I will continue to try to mold the world into one that doesn’t look at these issues as a matter of politics but a matter of common decency.