Illustration by Carson McNamara
To buy or not to buy? That is the question.
Every day we make purchases, from an inexpensive morning latte to a pricey three-course meal. With each decision we make with our dollars, we play a role in a larger ecosystem, and our choices about where to spend our money have a ripple effect.
In the current state of affairs — sky-high inflation, years of political unrest and an underlying, less severe but still very real pandemic — it seems consumers are flexing their buying power now more than ever.
In June, when it was revealed that James Martin, executive chair of Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe — makers of Martin’s potato rolls and bread — donated more than $100,000 to Doug Mastriano, a controversial Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor who attended the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and is a far-right supporter of former President Donald Trump, there was an instant backlash.
Food world luminaries such as “Top Chef” host Tom Collichio and author and chef J. Kenji López-Alt took to Instagram, announcing their boycotts of the company. Locally, the Church Hill eatery Cobra Burger eighty-sixed the buns from its menu.
The tango of food and politics is not a new one.
In 2018, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave Red Hen, a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, because of her role in defending what the eatery’s co-owner called the “inhuman and unethical” Trump administration, according to The Washington Post. In response, supporters and opponents demonstrated outside the restaurant, Trump took to Twitter, and the restaurant’s Yelp page was flooded with one- and five-star reviews
In recent years, Starbucks has spoken out against Trump’s immigration executive order and committed to hiring refugees. After Keurig announced they would no longer advertise their products during Fox News’ “Hannity,” the company received backlash from conservatives, who took to the internet with images and video showing them destroying the machines. Kellogg’s experienced a similar reaction when stopping ads on the conservative Breitbart News Network, resulting in a boycott of the manufacturer. For years, some have boycotted Chick-fil-A for its owners’ history of donating to charities with anti-LGBTQ stances.
In a country where the dollar has long been our political currency, it’s only natural that consumers make their voices heard with their wallets.
At the end of June, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Richmond’s Brewer’s Cafe was thrust into the spotlight after owner Ajay Brewer posted a Facebook status that read, “Anybody else as happy as I am that they overturned Roe?” This sparked outrage from a number of customers and community members. Many responded online stating they would no longer frequent the Manchester coffee shop. The RVA Big Market, where Brewer is a vendor, stated that it would continue to let him sell at the farmers market despite a number of patrons complaining online about his presence there.
Those who believe that food and politics shouldn’t intersect are kidding themselves. From climate change and sustainability to health care, labor and trade, the two worlds undoubtedly overlap.
Some people may believe it’s just a bun, or a cup of coffee, and they’re correct — which means that choosing a substitute is a feasible option.
Others may believe that we live in a “cancel culture” that suppresses speech, or that people are being discriminated against because of their political views. But in a country where the dollar has long been our political currency, it’s only natural that consumers make their voices heard with their wallets.
Many of us support local businesses, attend weekly farmers markets or frequent pop-ups and restaurants not only because of our innate curiosity about the world of food and beverage, but also because we have a connection to the people behind the businesses. We know them by name, we’ve seen their kids grow up. We aren’t just spending money and investing in their businesses, we’re investing in people.
While boycotting a big business may not have an immediate and direct effect, over time, it can. Pulling out our credit cards and tapping to pay is a form of political engagement, whether directly or inadvertently.
These moments of culinary and consumer decision-making are an opportunity to pause and to recognize the underlying meaning behind our everyday choices. As much as business owners have the right to their own opinions and political beliefs, consumers also have the right to exercise their spending power how they choose.