Cesar Chavez: A Legacy of Animal Advocacy

by Mat Thomas

As the founder of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) and a tireless civil rights leader, Cesar Estrada Chavez spent his life fighting for justice and brought hope for a better life to millions of people around the world. Considered "one of the heroic figures of our time" by Robert F. Kennedy, Chavez espoused an inclusive world view that illuminated the common oppressions forced on farm workers, the environment and animals by modern agribusiness.

A passionate animal rights advocate and vegetarian for the last 25 years of his life, he embodied these values as a model for others to emulate and urged union members to eat a plant-based diet out of respect and concern for animals. Due to his influence, many people within the farm labor movement today are vegetarians.

In all aspects of his life, Chavez committed himself to the principles of nonviolence pioneered by Mahatma Gandhi in colonial India and practiced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in America during the turbulent 1960s. Chavez considered vegetarianism to be an integral part of living nonviolently, that is, without causing other beings to suffer and die unnecessarily. "Cesar took genuine pride in producing numerous converts to vegetarianism over the decades. You are looking at one of them," UFW president Arturo Rodriguez said in 1996 during a speech at a farm conference. "He felt so strongly about it that sometimes I think he took as much personal satisfaction from converting people to vegetarianism as he did to trade unionism."

Chavez organized and led countless strikes, demonstrations, boycotts and pilgrimages in the struggle for worker's rights, standing up to agribusiness' brutal repression every step of the way. Even though strikebreakers sprayed toxic pesticides on farm workers who demonstrated for better living conditions and fired buckshot through their picket signs, Chavez rejected calls for violent action, insisting that positive social change could only come about through the diligence, patience and sacrifice that are at the core of nonviolent tactics. Like Gandhi, he also fasted to call the world's attention to crucial issues as well as to strengthen his own resolve to keep struggling against the forces of oppression. His conviction that the power of people working together for a common cause would ultimately prevail is epitomized in his personal motto, sa se peude (it can be done), which remains the UFW's slogan to this day.

Given his beliefs and actions, it comes as no surprise that Chavez was also a profoundly spiritual man. Attorney Bill Monning was one of many to confirm this when he wrote of his time working with the UFW. "I was fed spiritually by a powerful new ally and role model a Cesar Chavez," proclaimed Monning. "Cesar practiced vegetarianism and fasting as a means to focus the movement on nonviolence and a form of aspiritual activisma that nourished a movement with little material resources." Chavez's compassionate spirit inspired people to reach beyond themselves toward a more meaningful and fulfilling life. Like Gandhi, he believed dignity to be the birthright of all sentient beings, and helped people realize how much they shared in common with each other and all other creatures.

The fruits of Chavez's lifelong effort have left an indelible imprint on today's world. Decades ago, he was one of the first prominent figures to promote a return to sustainable organic farming as essential to restoring ecological balance, farm workers' control over their own lives and consumer confidence in our food supply. As such, he foreshadowed the food justice movement that has taken root around the globe. The UFW successfully lobbied under his leadership for passage of the 1975 California Agriculture Labor Relations Act, which is still the only law in the U.S. protecting farm workers' right to unionize. Chavez also made a lasting impression on the thriving animal rights movement, which he viewed as inextricably linked to other social justice causes.

That is why IDA proudly recognized this great leader's contribution to both human and animal rights by awarding Cesar Chavez our Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992. In his acceptance speech, Chavez said, "We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that the animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect them and love them as we love ourselves...We know we cannot be kind to animals until we stop exploiting them a exploiting animals in the name of science, exploiting animals in the name of sport, exploiting animals in the name of fashion, and yes, exploiting animals in the name of food."

A year after Chavez's death in 1993, Bill Clinton posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor an American citizen can receive. Since then, communities all over the U.S. have declared March 31st, Chavez's birthday, a holiday to commemorate his life. These and other honors help ensure that the great union organizer, civil rights leader, environmentalist and animal advocate will be long remembered as a true American hero who taught that peace can only be realized by ensuring justice for all, regardless of race, class or species.

To learn more about Cesar Chavez, visit the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, established by his family and friends to keep his memory alive and inspire people to carry on the struggle that was his life's work.

"Animals have been regarded as property for way too long. It's high time we took on a more loving and responsible relationship with our kindred beings in the web of life on this beautiful planet. I always think and act as a guardian towards my kindred beings, never as their owner."