Making the personal political

An amazing man died today.  He was one of my all-time favorite clients.  I feel a little uneasy admitting to having favorites, but I do.  Like a good social worker, I have absolutely cared greatly for all my past and present clients, even those that made me question my career choice and probably provoked some of my cursed early gray hairs.  But there are those particularly meaningful clients whom I will always remember vividly, those that spring up in my memory randomly and make me stop whatever I'm doing and just wonder.  Often, they are those who have changed me for the better, personally and professionally.  He was one of them.  I remember feeling bowled over by his gumption the first time I met him.  This was a man who knew what he wanted and didn't hesitate to say what it was.  He made things happen.  He knew what and who he loved, and had the nerve, the guts, to go after what he wanted and actually make it happen.  Years ago, he began a support group in Massachusetts for others with his same type of rare cancer, as one did not exist.  Years later, his small group has become an international association that holds nationwide conferences and support group networks all over.  While dying, he was on a mission to debunk the fears of hospice and make death and dying a loving process by sharing his story with friends, loved ones, and media outlets.  He made it his personal crusade to bring education, hope, and understanding to others.  He turned his personal suffering into a mission for change.     

I thought about him and his legacy after reading this article, which raises the question of individual power and politics in relation to diet.  In other words, is vegetarianism a political position?  The author, a professor of political science, describes the discourse that arises among his students when he teaches a course on the philosophy and politics of food.  While discussing vegetarianism and animal welfare, the author notes that the conversations quickly switch from generalized philosophy and political theory to personal choice.  The prominent question becomes, "Well, are YOU a vegetarian?", aimed at both fellow student and professor.  Interestingly, the author questions the appropriateness of this question, asking if food choices and diet are and can be political.  If you're not standing with PETA or Mercy for Animals, prominently becoming an animal rights activist fighting for policy change, can your choices to abstain from eating meat or animal products be considered politically relevant or meaningful?  Is consumer choice political? 

I say yes.  During each election cycle, massive numbers of would-be voters complain about the lack of power behind their vote, asking what they can do as just one person.  They become disenfranchised from the process and watch as elections are decided by mere hundreds of votes.  Outside of the voting booth, I believe it is possible to use consumerism to demonstrate a person's politics and ethics.  My husband and I do not shop at Wal-Mart because of their business and labor practices, and the social issues which they support.  Wal-Mart may not care if one middle class family takes their money elsewhere, but they would likely care if hundreds or thousands of families did the same.  Ten months ago, I bought Perdue boneless chicken breasts nearly every week.  Now, I buy none.  Again, Perdue may not care much about losing one customer, but if more families protested their factory farming methods with their wallet, then maybe their methods would change.  They would have to.  For now, I'm ok being one of a small number in hopes that someday I will be one of a larger number that will contribute to that change.     
          
I remember when I told my Gramma that I was choosing social work as my career.  She asked, Erin, honey, you know you can't save everybody, right?  Well, I knew that...maybe not everyone.  Later, I learned not even most.  But I knew I was definitely going to try to help as many people as I could, even if it was in the smallest way.  I've seen firsthand over and over again how sometimes the smallest steps can lead to immense gains.  While I may not be throwing cans of red paint at fur wearers on behalf of PETA (yeah, won't be happening, no worries), actively pamphleting on behalf of  Mercy for Animals, or lobbying Congress for more rigid animal welfare policies (not yet, anyway) I feel good knowing that my small choices to buy tofu and tempeh and soy milk can make a difference and send a message.  I think my client would agree.  

What do you think?  Are the choices you make at the grocery store or mall or local shop based on particular politics or ethics or values?  Are you hoping to send a message with how you spend your money?