Friday is fast approaching. These last few weeks have been so busy that I've let my purchasing standards fly under the moral radar. I've had my ethical food purchasing routine down pat for a while now, but this is the first Christmas during that routine. I did give in to the traditional cookies and fudge recipes of my family. There was lots of eating out. I'm looking forward to practicing my sustainable food purchasing once again.
With this upcoming project, I had to reflect on how Christmas disrupted my sustainable eating and fair trade ideals. Why did all my gifts have to come from chain stores (both the ones I gave and received)? Why did I submit to the mentality that the holiday season means forgetting about the food choices that mean so much to me? The holidays seem to allow this thinking in many people. You have this special time with your family which should foster all of your good intentions, yet the season pulls you away. Perhaps the American Christmas of commercialism and chronic buying is still the biggest quality. I don't know the answer for sure. I know that I was more intuned to ethics this Christmas than any other one. Next year I would like to focus a little less on other people's gifts and outfits at family gatherings, and a little more on the spirit of the holiday.
I hope everyone had a good Christmas, didn't give into commercialism too much, and remembered what is truly important.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Ignorance is Bliss, and Change is Hard
I've always kept myself abreast of all the green, sustainable and fair trade knowledge as it applies to food. Now I am becoming more aware of how it applies to all products. Today while waiting during my jury duty, I continued my education on these topics. Just when I think I know everything, I get hit with a slew of new information. Today I read that a good amount of the top candy companies in America still buy their products from farmers who practice child labor conditions on the Ivory Coast. These farmers are pretty much forced to do whatever it takes to get the business, even if it means having to work for close to or for actually nothing, and passing this unfair life onto the children. I find it appalling that we think this country has come so far since the abolition of slavery, when in fact we are still doing it. I think our cheek is turned when we think about unfair work conditions in other countries because we think we have no control over it. The fact is though our American companies are using these products of slave-like conditions. It also unforunately happens in our own country. One example is the illegal immigrants that big meat companies use for meat packing. The execs hold deportation above the workers' heads in order to get away with hardly paying these people. All that time spent on working to get slaves their freedom, now here we are in 2010, living like high-tech plantation owners.
It's difficult to be a consumer though. It's possible to be a fair consumer, but it's difficult. Here's an example. I love to 'mall walk' before the stores open in the winter. It's too cold to be outside and there's something enchanting to me about the quiet before the stores open. It's, of course, part of my routine to look at all the mannequins' styles and wonder. Well, today is the first time I've mall walked since the birth of the idea of this challenge. I realized that I'm either going to have to find a used duplicate of the style, learn how to make it, or give it up. Where can you find an outfit in the mall that wasn't made in China or a third world country? The thing of it is though a year, a month or even a little over a week ago, I would have made a mental note to buy one of these outfits. I really didn't want to think about the moral consequence of it and therefore it didn't exist. Now that I won't be able to buy these things in a couple of weeks, I know to look but that I can't buy. With all the advertising showing me that this is right: to work to buy to giveaway to keep up with trend, it's hard to think otherwise. We're all pretty much raised this way because of our culture, so right now this feels like part of my childhood getting ripped away. I'm hoping that at the end of this challenge there is a new norm in my life: to help.
On this topic of our need for bigger, better, faster stuff, there is a great video to watch. If the link doesn't appear somewhere on this post, go to youtube and type in story of stuff full version. It's worth it! If you decide to join in on this challenge in some capacity, I wish you the best of luck, and know that you are not alone!
It's difficult to be a consumer though. It's possible to be a fair consumer, but it's difficult. Here's an example. I love to 'mall walk' before the stores open in the winter. It's too cold to be outside and there's something enchanting to me about the quiet before the stores open. It's, of course, part of my routine to look at all the mannequins' styles and wonder. Well, today is the first time I've mall walked since the birth of the idea of this challenge. I realized that I'm either going to have to find a used duplicate of the style, learn how to make it, or give it up. Where can you find an outfit in the mall that wasn't made in China or a third world country? The thing of it is though a year, a month or even a little over a week ago, I would have made a mental note to buy one of these outfits. I really didn't want to think about the moral consequence of it and therefore it didn't exist. Now that I won't be able to buy these things in a couple of weeks, I know to look but that I can't buy. With all the advertising showing me that this is right: to work to buy to giveaway to keep up with trend, it's hard to think otherwise. We're all pretty much raised this way because of our culture, so right now this feels like part of my childhood getting ripped away. I'm hoping that at the end of this challenge there is a new norm in my life: to help.
On this topic of our need for bigger, better, faster stuff, there is a great video to watch. If the link doesn't appear somewhere on this post, go to youtube and type in story of stuff full version. It's worth it! If you decide to join in on this challenge in some capacity, I wish you the best of luck, and know that you are not alone!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Breaking Free From These Chains
Chances are that if I'm shopping at a chain, I am probably not shopping fairly. At the head of chains are the CEOs and the vice so and sos, etc., who I frankly do not wish to make any richer. I'd rather give my money to the independent bookstore owner, possibly enabling him to take his family out to one more nice dinner rather than put another BMW in Mr. CEO's driveway. I don't really buy that many books at one time, but you get the idea.
There are a few concessions I will make to chain consuming. 1) Whole Foods is a chain, but many fair trade products are sold there and they do their part to help the farmers and chocolate makers, etc. Starbucks uses fair trade coffee. 'Nuff said. 2) My grandma is just flat out not going to understand what the hell I'm doing. I can take on corporate America, but making her mad because I don't want to go to her favorite chain restaurant is a monster that I do not wish to take down. She's really a sweet lady, she's just used to things being her way. 3) If I absolutely can't find a product that is organic or fair trade. Plus, if someone has a small business and makes their living by way of their own craft, I'm not going to turn away because they didn't use organic cotton. I think most of the morals are there on that one. There is another thing, indirect chain product buying. The second hand stores I go to are for a good cause. Even though these clothes were up for sale originally straight from unfair working conditions, the fact is that these discarded clothes would otherwise end up in landfills. I hope that's not too many concessions. I think they are rightfully valid.
I'm also going to have to look at gas. There really is no fair trade gas. In fact, it's the center of a Middle East conflict. I've decided to ride the metro to school and work because there are stops near each place. Why I felt the need to drive there when there is already public transportation to get me there is beyond me. I guess it was all part of my "need more stuff" mantra. I do realize that it takes energy and thus probably oil to run the Metrolink, but I figure it is shared, versus me pumping and using my own everyday. Because we don't have that great of a public transportation system, there will be times when I will need my car. Here's a brilliant idea that I'm sure no one has ever thought of: instead of joining a gym, I can ride my bike to and fro the stations to the places of interest. It's crazy and complex, I know.
I am setting up the blog a little early in order to not be a total cliche when it comes to a new year's resolution. I'm not starting the challenge until January 1st, but I'm putting all the gears into motion to catapult me into this whole thing.
There are a few concessions I will make to chain consuming. 1) Whole Foods is a chain, but many fair trade products are sold there and they do their part to help the farmers and chocolate makers, etc. Starbucks uses fair trade coffee. 'Nuff said. 2) My grandma is just flat out not going to understand what the hell I'm doing. I can take on corporate America, but making her mad because I don't want to go to her favorite chain restaurant is a monster that I do not wish to take down. She's really a sweet lady, she's just used to things being her way. 3) If I absolutely can't find a product that is organic or fair trade. Plus, if someone has a small business and makes their living by way of their own craft, I'm not going to turn away because they didn't use organic cotton. I think most of the morals are there on that one. There is another thing, indirect chain product buying. The second hand stores I go to are for a good cause. Even though these clothes were up for sale originally straight from unfair working conditions, the fact is that these discarded clothes would otherwise end up in landfills. I hope that's not too many concessions. I think they are rightfully valid.
I'm also going to have to look at gas. There really is no fair trade gas. In fact, it's the center of a Middle East conflict. I've decided to ride the metro to school and work because there are stops near each place. Why I felt the need to drive there when there is already public transportation to get me there is beyond me. I guess it was all part of my "need more stuff" mantra. I do realize that it takes energy and thus probably oil to run the Metrolink, but I figure it is shared, versus me pumping and using my own everyday. Because we don't have that great of a public transportation system, there will be times when I will need my car. Here's a brilliant idea that I'm sure no one has ever thought of: instead of joining a gym, I can ride my bike to and fro the stations to the places of interest. It's crazy and complex, I know.
I am setting up the blog a little early in order to not be a total cliche when it comes to a new year's resolution. I'm not starting the challenge until January 1st, but I'm putting all the gears into motion to catapult me into this whole thing.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Challenge
For those of you who stumbled across this chance at making a difference, I am grateful for it. I'll try and give you the briefest background I can so as not to lose your interest. Basically what I am trying to do here is to create awareness through taking a huge leap and creating this year long challenge. I want to make a resolution that means something. These past two years I have tried to live sustainably through purchases of food that are ethically responsible, such as being hormone and pesticide free. It brought me into the interest of trying to buy chocolate and coffee that ensured fair wages for the farmers that grew these products. I feel that taking those steps made a difference, but to say I can do no more is a lie.
By all means I am not here to preach. The fact is many people don't know what fair trade even means. If you don't, in a nutshell it means the products are made under fair conditions and return a fair profit to those who made them. I can't blame anyone who is not educated on the subject, because there is not much blatantly out there. The good news is though that SuperStores (what I'll call big national chain marts) are starting to wake up and carry some organic and fair trade products.
Gone are the days when your lighting needs were carried out by Mr. Joe up the street who lived above his store. Mrs. O'Leary isn't there to make your dresses and hem them. Steve around the corner is no longer your only source for deli meats. You are now able to get these items every two blocks almost at many different stores. Your deli needs may even be met at the place you fill your car with gas. It is now very easy to get lots of stuff at really cheap prices. What is not often pondered is the invisible costs that are still there on a really cheap product: the reckless emissions of negative environmental substances, the more than sub par working conditions for workers and the business that is being taken away from any remaining Mr. Joes or Mrs. O'Learys. Do we really need to have the cost of sheet sets be as cheap as we can find them so we can have ten or more sets? Would it really hurt us to only have two: one for the bed while the other is being washed, thus ensuring better wages for those who make the sheets?
Notice I use the words us and we, because I know that I have done my fair share of contributing to the problem. There is all kinds of controversy around one SuperStore in particular, and while you may have your reasons for why it is worse than the other, are any of the other SuperStores that much better? I actually convinced myself late this past summer that because everything comes from China and impoverished countries I might as well just shop at any SuperStore. There's no winning, I thought. I somehow got myself on this one track mind that if I couldn't find a product at two different stores then it didn't exist. To be upfront with you, even though I had heard all my life about sweatshops, the fact that if I shopped at a certain place or bought a certain product made me feel like I was living the "American Dream" and that I was exactly like everybody else. I had the 'in'. Does owning the right pair of shoes really make my life more worthwhile, or does time spent laughing with my friends on wine night give me a true satisfaction? I guess I feared that I would turn into the hippies in high school that I thought were weird for not having TVs and going on service trips on spring break instead of to Florida. Turns out I could have learned a lot from them. Maybe though, buying fair trade can become the new "American Dream", you know the one that talks about "liberty and justice for all"?
This blog is meant to open the floor for discussions about what fair trade is and how we really do have the power. There are many websites out there that offer fair trade products at equal or even less costs than you're paying now. Not only will your choice make you feel ethically stronger, but your product will have a meaning. I hope to never sound like I'm condemning anyone, but the fact is that every time we buy something we are making a choice. We're either supporting the companies that put money over people, or we're not. It's scary to think that every time we run an item over a scanner we're making a contribution to the unfair conditions for people we don't even know. We don't want to believe we're doing it, so many heads are turned away from it. That's what this challenge is about: how to avoid the negatives of corporate America like the cones on a driver's ed course. Even if I just reach one person, this year will be worth it.
By all means I am not here to preach. The fact is many people don't know what fair trade even means. If you don't, in a nutshell it means the products are made under fair conditions and return a fair profit to those who made them. I can't blame anyone who is not educated on the subject, because there is not much blatantly out there. The good news is though that SuperStores (what I'll call big national chain marts) are starting to wake up and carry some organic and fair trade products.
Gone are the days when your lighting needs were carried out by Mr. Joe up the street who lived above his store. Mrs. O'Leary isn't there to make your dresses and hem them. Steve around the corner is no longer your only source for deli meats. You are now able to get these items every two blocks almost at many different stores. Your deli needs may even be met at the place you fill your car with gas. It is now very easy to get lots of stuff at really cheap prices. What is not often pondered is the invisible costs that are still there on a really cheap product: the reckless emissions of negative environmental substances, the more than sub par working conditions for workers and the business that is being taken away from any remaining Mr. Joes or Mrs. O'Learys. Do we really need to have the cost of sheet sets be as cheap as we can find them so we can have ten or more sets? Would it really hurt us to only have two: one for the bed while the other is being washed, thus ensuring better wages for those who make the sheets?
Notice I use the words us and we, because I know that I have done my fair share of contributing to the problem. There is all kinds of controversy around one SuperStore in particular, and while you may have your reasons for why it is worse than the other, are any of the other SuperStores that much better? I actually convinced myself late this past summer that because everything comes from China and impoverished countries I might as well just shop at any SuperStore. There's no winning, I thought. I somehow got myself on this one track mind that if I couldn't find a product at two different stores then it didn't exist. To be upfront with you, even though I had heard all my life about sweatshops, the fact that if I shopped at a certain place or bought a certain product made me feel like I was living the "American Dream" and that I was exactly like everybody else. I had the 'in'. Does owning the right pair of shoes really make my life more worthwhile, or does time spent laughing with my friends on wine night give me a true satisfaction? I guess I feared that I would turn into the hippies in high school that I thought were weird for not having TVs and going on service trips on spring break instead of to Florida. Turns out I could have learned a lot from them. Maybe though, buying fair trade can become the new "American Dream", you know the one that talks about "liberty and justice for all"?
This blog is meant to open the floor for discussions about what fair trade is and how we really do have the power. There are many websites out there that offer fair trade products at equal or even less costs than you're paying now. Not only will your choice make you feel ethically stronger, but your product will have a meaning. I hope to never sound like I'm condemning anyone, but the fact is that every time we buy something we are making a choice. We're either supporting the companies that put money over people, or we're not. It's scary to think that every time we run an item over a scanner we're making a contribution to the unfair conditions for people we don't even know. We don't want to believe we're doing it, so many heads are turned away from it. That's what this challenge is about: how to avoid the negatives of corporate America like the cones on a driver's ed course. Even if I just reach one person, this year will be worth it.
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