Whilst I’ve been taking my time thinking about what I’d write for this next post, lots of things have gone through my mind about ethical shopping. It can be really easy, if you’re willing to go without strawberries in December and having only English produce where possible. But the government, and in particular, Defra (Department For Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) doesn’t make living - and shopping - locally easy at all. It panders to the wants that everyone has, for a wide choice of cheap, un-local food, rather than stemming the flow of, and independence on cheap imports. But then again, I’ve harped on about that enough! It seems that as consumers we have to wise-up to the way shops are run and if we want to make a change we have to be proactive rather than passive.
The aim of this post is to help those who want to not only shop more economically, but shop ethically as well - and for those who say it can’t be done, I am living proof! Firstly, lets start with supermarkets. Those Meccas of consumerism that we all end up visiting, however much we may try not to…
Supermarkets work on the supply and demand principle, and as green issues have been in just about every single media possible over the last couple of years, it’s a logical step for the supermarkets to want to follow suit and appear, on the outside, to be doing good things. But I am skeptical, where there is money to be made, and gullible folks who’ll fall for it, the supermarkets will always win. Recently Tesco, announcing its brand of “Local Choice” milk landed itself in hot water (or should that be hot milk?!) because it was sourcing its “Heart of England” milk (what most of us would call “The Midlands”) from Lincolnshire and Derbyshire and selling it over 150 miles away in Hereford. Now, knowing a bit about Hereford I can say with confidence that there are plenty of dairies around there (a quick search yielded this), and that it has a long-standing history of farming. This is just one of the many reasons why major supermarkets are out.
For the last 3 or 4 months we’ve split our shopping up: we shop for meat and local milk at our local farmshop, do the majority of our shopping at our local Co-Op and get as much vegetables as possible straight from the farm-stall on market day. This works out really well for us, and we won’t be going back to a normal supermarket ever! We chose the co-op because it has a really ethical and ecologically-sensitive outlook. It does everything possible to ensure farming and food production stays in the UK. It was founded by its members in Rochdale, Lancashire in 1844 and has been run by them ever since. It farms over 70,000 acres and is the UK’s largest farmer, and best of all - they do it responsibly. They’ve banned the use of certain pesticides and chemicals, and use others very carefully, preferring to use crop-rotation and disease-resistant varieties. Have a look at their farming website!. Over half of all the own-brand flour it sells comes from their own farms. The labelling on their own-brand products is exemplary, if it sells mayo with eggs from caged (battery) hens, it’ll let you know.
It’s things like that, which make me believe they are the way to go. And their strawberries? Delicious! There are obviously failings, they do still sell mayo with eggs from caged hens, and they do still sell battery-produced raw chickens, but they are the only supermarket (other than Waitrose) who seriously sell things like free-range cooked chicken breast, free range ham and 100% cruelty-free own-brand products (all of their own-brand block chocolate is fairtrade, and the nicest I’ve tasted!). The products are slightly more expensive, and the range is less than a large supermarket, however we aren’t needy shoppers, and if it’s not stocked in that shop, we’ll find it elsewhere. Simple.
There is also another co-operative chain, available in a few cities, called Out of This World. They are a complete eco-supermarket, and although expensive, they stock things that not even our best healthfood shops stock. Like heavenly Faith In Nature shampoo (we’ve been using the Hemp & Meadowfoam for a few months now, and my hair = stunning!), Kingfisher natural toothpaste, as well as household items like soap-nuts and olive oil. I love this shop for the fantastic range of ecological products which you just don’t get anywhere other than specialist outlets, and usually for a huge price.
Within supermarkets themselves look out for things like Marine Stewardship Council (or MSC) approved fish, this ensures that the fish have been caught in an environmentally friendly fashion, without overfishing and free-range or organically produced meat. Remember the motto that only lamb and fish are meat products which are kept free-range and therefore don’t have to be stamped as such - but beef, pork and chicken is kept in appalling conditions, so if it’s not free-range or organic, you will be buying intensively-farmed, poorly-treated animals. Avoid vegetables that are shipped in from far away - and eat seasonally. Like I said, we buy our veg from the nice man at the market, whose farm is less than 10 miles away. Fresh veg, picked the day I buy it, only slightly less-fresh than if it’d come out of my own garden.
Okay, we’ve got the main bit of shopping out of the way - where next? Farmshops and farmers markets are the way to go if you want to find local, free-range and often organic meat as well as gorgeous fresh, seasonal vegetables. I can attest to our own farmer who sells his produce at the local town on market day, it is cheaper! Farmers who open shops are far more likely to treat their animals with respect, to farm in a sympathetic way and be more open with the public about their farming practises. With many, the farm shops are actually on the farms, and this gives you the chance to see the pigs/sheep/cows firsthand. It’s great to tell kids where their dinner comes from, and contrary to many parent’s opinions, it will not mentally upset your child to be shown that their tasty burger was once mooing.
Ok, that’s meat, vegetables and general shopping… Now comes stuff “other”. The key to buying responsibly is to think about it. Think about the production, how it was produced, where it came from an possible ill-effects from this. For instance I heartily approve of using real wool, cotton and bamboo/soya fibres in clothing rather than nasty petroleum-derived plastics, but make sure that if it’s cotton it’s organic, and not produced in a sweat-shop, and that the wool comes from a local source. Once you get these kind of details worked out, you can go about finding a local source for whatever you need. Try redefining need, do you really need an item? I’m perplexed by those whose motto seems to be “to keep up with the Jones’”, I am an unashamedly un-competitive when it comes to car type, latest clothing or the newest gadget, and where possible we source things second-hand first, rather than buying new, and we go for a green alternative wherever possible! It’s not that difficult, but it does take time and effort, but I think the benefits far outweigh the cons. We don’t have much money, and never really have - but this doesn’t stop us from buying food responsibly, it does mean we don’t eat meat every single day - something that has not only monetary, but health benefits too. Some general tips:
- Shop locally for everything possible. Try a local source first, and use the web, it is on of the best eco-tools I know!
- Reduce, reuse and recycle. Be responsible with waste, recduce it where possible and re-use and recycle the rest. Especially when it comes to childrens clothing and toys - give them away to charity or hold a car-boot sale.
- Avoid man-made synthetics in everything, and do not ever use a teflon pan again. Ever. If you haven’t heard of the damage they can do, find out about it now!
- What you pay in the supermarket for one ready-to-roast battery chicken is not a ‘reasonable’ price. Usually around the £3 mark is what you’d pay, a mere 3 pence of that goes to the producer, which is why he has to house thousands of these birds in cramped, awful conditions before he makes a living. By adding around £1.50 /kg to that price you can eat one which has had a life, the chance to run around and live a decent life before it ended up on your plate. Not only do they taste better, but don’t you think an animal deserves this?
- Redefine need - do you need that item?
- Home-electronics (computers, televisions, mobile phones etc) are bad. Plain and simple. To make the computer you’re sat reading this by, 240kg of fossil fuels have been used, it has involved 20kg of toxic chemicals and the weight of a large car in materials¹. India is currently being crippled by the vast amount of e-waste which is put into landfill, having first been stripped of its useful elements (some toxic) for recycling (UK statistics here).
- Don’t use another plastic bag! Make or buy reusable fabric ones, you can make fabric ones with old clothes, or buy fairtrade cotton ones from the Co-op, only 99p!
- When it comes to cleaning products, think about what you use. Normal washing-up liquid has a plethora of really nasty chemicals, formaldehyde being just one. Would you honestly want that on your skin - twice, maybe three times a day?
- Think about what you buy and try to find alternatives.
¹ Source: The Human Footprint, Channel4
I hope this has helped - any questions or thoughts, feel free to comment and I’ll add them to the bottom of this list!
