Ethical eatin’... where I live is a little ironic and you knew this was coming

If each day you had the choice to support or deny others the opportunity of things like health and education, what would you decide to do?

You probably know the deal but here’s the recap:

I have a bit of a preoccupation with the implications of corporate social responsibility policies’ relationship to structural violence, in particular to the limitations on incoming generations which can result in constrained opportunities.

Passive, rather than active assertive, decisions are often made as consumers. It can be questioned if a dollar spent one way or another really matters and the impact one’s choices is often ignored or even brought up for consideration.

Reasonable alternatives, ethical consumption, Fair Trade, or whatever you happen to know it as, is one of the fastest growing markets in Canada. A few weeks ago, a friend asked if I was glad it has become the newest fad. Mainstream publicity maybe what is happening, but I don’t think it is a fad or trend. If it is, at least it is increasing the awareness of how one’s consumer decisions can create change for the producer of their purchases, and in turn their families. I hope people now have the awareness to see how easy and accessible alternatives are now. Think rice, cocoa products, sugars, coffees, teas, bananas, red grapes, wines, spices, soccer balls, cotton, dried tropical fruits, even rootbeer, as a few examples, go overseas and there is much more.

It is not about boycotts or depriving yourself of anything.

The gourmet palette is no longer where the Fair Trade market is mainly geared, as for example, Cadbury and President’s Choice supply certified Fair Trade chocolate for a reasonable price. Nestle, you lose, but I would still really like some smarties.

 So for seven years, the goal has been to first be a consumer within the borders, and in the case of importing, to find the most ethical reasonable alternative. For now, the ethical bar is fair trade. Reasonability covers the availability of the product and/or ability to create it without inconveniencing oneself. For example, is the ethical alternative sold in Canada or can one readily make it(you can make a lot of things out of sugar).

I was curious as to what would happen with my eating habits when I got here, but it’s been pretty simple. There is no middle man distributor here as I get my rice and sugars straight from the farmer.

I live in a gigantic coffee field. Hundreds of thousands of coffee trees is a conservative estimation. The factory seasonally employs most people who live in this area. Each day coming into work I am frustrated by the lack of funds in this community to support their initiatives when the potential lies in those plants. Fair Trade typically allots 10% to go back to the community to be used as necessary. As an example, Cocoa Camino products come from a Coop that has used this %10 to things such as build roads, a school, and fund a teacher’s salary. On top of this, workers receive a salary that allows for the decision of how many meals a day to serve their children, instead of a default of what can be scrounged. 

The poking around this field has begun...