I swear to you that I tried to find a more sexy prop than a tin of lentils, but I’m on holidays and completely out of my routine, so the pantry cupboard is pretty grim. Soon Johanis will be scrounging scraps out of my new indoor composter (unrelated: should I be offended that the brand recommends the indoor composter for the ‘elderly and enfeebled’ — what about those of us who are just lazy and a bit afraid of the dark?).
In any case, the 2013 edition of Shop Ethical!: The Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping ($8.95AUD) arrived for me in the post today. It’s a booklet that I ordered from one of my favourite websites, the Ethical Consumer Group, for whipping out of the depths of my handbag when I’m pondering the cheese section in my local supermarket. The guide contains a list of common supermarket products and brands, with company and parent company ratings on the basis of issues like palm oil, overfishing, animal welfare, child labour, genetic engineering, multinational ownership, tax justice and packaging.
Easy peasy, right? *NERVOUS LAUGHTER*
I’m so used to shopping without thinking — grabbing what is on special, what has the prettiest packaging, what my mother used — that the idea of putting so much thought into my everyday purchases is pretty overwhelming. Sometimes I’d like to go and hide in a cave I’ve constructed out of mass-manufactured white bread glued together with a multi-national corporation’s high fructose corn syrup spread. In fact, I think I do hide in that sort of cave most of the time (metaphorically rather than literally speaking, although if I do actually build such a cave I will definitely post pictures) and it’s only since I’ve been engaging with guides like Shop Ethical! that I’ve been popping my head out now and then.
At least Shop Ethical! is ordered in a manner that helps me to make purchasing decisions quickly; thank the Lord for colour-coding, illustrations, indexes, symbols. I can flick through the guide to ‘Cottage Cheese’ and see that Bulla is an Australian company that has been assessed as having a positive ethical track-record, whereas Dairy Farmers is owned by the Japanese company Kirin, which has been critisied for genetic engineering and animal testing. At least that one’s a no-brainer for me.
Of course I’m an entrenched consumer (HELLO STUFF I LOVE YOU), so I identified with the guide’s focus on finding a practical way to create positive change with our supermarket shopping. Shopping this way can be confusing, resource-intensive, and more expensive, but I’m slowly learning ways of circumnavigating some of those issues. It’s also sometimes frustrating because I’m often choosing what I believe to be the lesser of two evils (with the knowledge that I’m probably failing a lot of the time), but I’m just mindful that every purchase I make works to endorse a company and the things that it does, even if that’s not what I intended.
Shop Ethical! is also available as a smartphone app for $4.49AUD from the iTunes App Store and the Android Marketplace (which I’ve featured in a previous post on how I research a company’s animal testing status). You can also search for brands on the Ethical Consumer Guide website. Very soon, I’ll be giving away a copy of the 2013 edition of Shop Ethical!: The Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping (SO GLAM, YES?) to a reader — and hey, I may even sweeten the deal with some goodies from People Tree, Blue Q, and Korres.
See, I don’t ever think of this stuff. I just try to buy Australian. Mainly because I want to support local jobs and all that, but it’s never really occurred to me that even Australian brands can be unethical. Might need to look into this! x
Hi Chelsea!
I think that buying Australian owned and made is a really great place to start! It’s so worthwhile supporting the local economy, small producers and reduced food miles! Download the app to start off with, I found it really eye-opening and it doesn’t take long to look up a brand if you’re a bit sus about it.
I try to shop as little from the supermarket as possible. But convenience is always a huge push factor to buy something. I could drive way across town to an ethical supermarket to get cooking chocolate (for instance), but I know the Big duopolies have the exact same chocolate for perhaps a cheaper price, so why would I put more petrol into that?
I don’t know. I do try to be conscientious about my purchases, but often, the poor me wins out and I will buy the cheaper (not so ethical) version of something just so I can make sure I don’t make myself poor being ethical to others. It’s a tough balance.
Hi Celeste!
You’re awesome! Convenience is such a huge push factor for all of us, isn’t it? I’m lucky to have some really amazing small stores (like the Romeo’s Foodland in North Adelaide) nearby that make it a bit easier, but if they were further away I think I would still really struggle. And we still often shop at the Coles that’s even closer to our place…
It’s super difficult when you don’t have much money, I don’t think I could have shopped in the way I do now when I was at university, for instance. However, I’ve read some amazing articles about people who have been able to afford a more sustainable lifestyle with not much money because of really clever bulk/co-op buying, food swapping, veggie/herb gardening etc. It takes a lot of information and effort to set something like that up though… Not quite there yet!
Stacey x
Well. I’m building up my veggie and herb garden now, so I’m definitely hoping to go down that track! If things go well, I’ll also have my own chickens before the year is out. =)
I am too, but who knows how much of it will be left at the end of this heat wave?! *crying* So jealous about the chickens! You must have nice landlords!
I developed a bunch of allergies about six years ago now, and since I now can’t eat dairy, fish, fake sugar, wheat, or peanuts, I have to be pretty darn aware of what’s in my food. It’s pretty staggering just what you find on the labels alone once you start looking, without even going into the company’s background. Every time I have to explain to people that some supermarket bacon is treated with wheat products, they look at me like I’m a paranoid lunatic.
Hi Cassie!
Wow, that must be quite challenging at times! I had no idea about bacon. One of my best friends is gluten-intolerant and I’m constantly amazed at the products that have ‘sneaky gluten’ in them – things you’d never expect, right?
Stacey x
It’s RIDICULOUS. You also have to watch out for frozen chips, and chicken salt – both of these can have dextrose derived from wheat in them. But the kind of label paranoia I have to do every time I shop certainly makes you aware of how processed a lot of commercially available food is.
(This is also why I’m not vegetarian or vegan – I agree in principle, but I would literally starve without meat)
Totally understandable! Your continued survival is most important
I knew the one about hot chips because that one’s come up before while I’ve been with my friend. Sad face!