A poem by Manuel Avalos, by the name of “Cruelty-free Mexican Food,” poses an imminent juxtaposition that we face in our world: how far can we go in our virtue-signaling parade before we completely stomp out those who support our society. In the heartfelt and saccharine poem, Manuel takes many examples of invading populations mistreating the ones who were native to the lands. The orator mentions the influx of techies that have gentrified California’s Silicon Valley, the early Spaniards invading and exploiting the Aztec populations in Mexico, and a lady demanding cruelty-free food at a Mexican restaurant. Because of our proximity to Silicon Valley and the effects of gentrification in our local neighborhoods, the topics Manuel talks about in his are especially close to our hearts. “Ask for a low price, but forget about the human tax for back-breaking labor.” The orator of this poem highlights how “the customer is always right” mentality has hurt his community again and again. How could they ask for more, when they have already taken so much. Manuel goes into deep detail on how his people are still being exploited for their labor, for their food, and their crops to this day. He describes how the Spanish ruined Aztec civilization to erect plantations in parallelism with how non-native Californians displaced the native farming populations to erect high rises in Silicon Valley. With his non-vocal expressions, Manuel conveys a feeling of violence and dangerous growth with no means to an end coming from his communities’ exploiters, while his people are being forced into a box they cannot fit in. “Cage-free food doesn’t mean **** when you live in one,” Manuel laments. We need to have an honest conversation on how far we can go as a society in demanding more, higher quality, cheaper goods, and services, while completely ignoring the populations that are providing them.
