|
|
|
On Cooperation: Responsible Shoppingby Nate Horwitz Many people who shop at Honest Weight try to be responsible shoppers-that is, they try to support companies that don't destroy the environment, engage in unfair labor practices, are involved in animal testing, produce cigarettes, use genetically modified ingredients, and so on. There was a time when one could buy almost anything at the Coop, confident about the product and the company that made it. Times have changed, though. Many of the small, independent companies that we bought from years ago are now owned by huge conglomerates. Grains, beans, and produce are often just as suspect as packaged groceries. What's a shopper to do? Grow your own! In all seriousness, there's no better way to know where your food comes from than to grow it yourself. Not confident about your gardening abilities? There are lots of good books about gardening at the public library, or you could order one from the Coop. You could also call your county's Cooperative Extension office (in Albany, it's 765-3500) and sign up for gardening instruction classes. Don't have space for a garden? Call the Capital District Community Gardens (274-8685), and perhaps they can help you find a plot nearby. If not, there are actually books on gardening in small places, such as Green Things In Small Spaces: Apartment Gardening Indoors, Outdoors, On-The-Cheap by Marnie Collins, which is available at the main branch of the Albany Public Library. Cook your own! The more packaged and processed a food is, the more likely it is to be made by some huge company that's probably doing all sorts of bad stuff. If you prepare food yourself, you can not only be confident that you're eating fresher, more nutritious food from a source you know about, but it'll also taste better! Sign up for a cooking class at the Coop if you're not confident about your skills. Time Of course, for many of us, skills are not the issue. The issue is time. Between work, family, and attending antiwar protests, who's got the time to garden, cook, and read books on how to do this stuff? For many people, packaged natural foods are a necessity. They're the only way that people are able to eat natural foods and take care of everything else. One way of finding out about a company's practices is to check out the website www.responsibleshopper.org . There you can find out about a company's environmental record, how much their CEO makes, labor relations, and more. The Responsible Shopper website is a great tool for finding information about really large companies. It's less useful when dealing with small companies. The best way to find information about them is often by looking at their own websites. If you do this, you'll find that many seemingly small companies are actually small parts of much larger entities. Another way to be a responsible shopper is to buy Fair Trade foods. The Fair Trade Association has been around for about twenty years now (starting out as the North Atlantic Alternative Trade Organization), and has a growing list of certified Fair Trade foods-some of which, like Equal Exchange and Rapunzel, are available here at Honest Weight. The website www.fairtradefederation.com lists some of the other certified Fair Trade companies. |
CoopScoop
Home |
