Shopping with a Conscience
written and photographed by ALICE RAGLAND
Shopping is a simple task, right? Choose a few items, put them in the shopping cart and let the cashier take care of the rest. However, the items chosen have an economic, social and environmental impact. Many things go into making a shopping experience simple, such as the people, energy and natural resources which are involved in creating a product. These four tips will help shoppers make decisions that do not negatively affect workers, the environment or their own health.
1. Know where ''stuff'' comes from.
According to sustainabletable.org, a website that educates about sustainable and healthy food, an average carrot travels 1,838 miles to reach a consumer’s plate. During that journey, tons of carbon dioxide are released into the air from the semi-trucks, trains and ships. Food that has traveled for weeks can have severe nutrient depletion.
The true way to know where food comes from is to grow it on one’s own, but buying from local sources is a positive alternative. Not only does that reduce the amount of carbon dioxide involved for food to travel, it also reduces dependence on foreign oil. Buying locally also boosts a community’s economy and results in fresher food.
Various newspapers, including the Cleveland publication The Plain Dealer, have recognized Athens for having one of the best local food scenes in the nation. On Wednesday and Saturday mornings, produce can be purchased from the Athens Farmers’ Market on East State Street—instead of from a grocery store chain. Many Athens restaurants purchase their ingredients from local sources as well, so it’s not hard to stick with local foods when eating out.
2. Skip the crazy ingredients.
Do you know what butylated hydroxyanisole is? What about methyl aldehyde? The former is often shortened by the acronym BHA and is used as a preservative in processed foods. BHA has been proven to cause cancer in lab animals, and according to preventcancer.com, it is a known human carcinogen, or a cancer-causing substance. The latter is another word for formaldehyde, which is a gas involved in embalming human bodies. It is also used in various processed foods, cosmetics, medicines, cleaning products, lotions, body washes, shampoos and baby baths. Although the Environmental Protection Agency recognizes formaldehyde as a carcinogen, it is often found in every day products.
There is virtually no regulation for the chemicals used in such products. Toxic pesticides used in the production of fruits and vegetables don’t have to be named on the ingredient list even though conventionally grown produce is saturated with them. Harmful ingredients in bath products and cleaning fluids seep through the skin and can go directly into the lungs. They also can contaminate water when they go down the drain, and the water purification process cannot remove every trace of such substances.
It’s important to pay attention to what is in food, and reading the ingredient labels on products is a way to investigate. If a product has a laundry list of unpronounceable ingredients that seems as if it belongs nowhere except for a sci-fi movie, it’s most likely unsafe.
However, not all complex-sounding ingredients are harmful. For example, cocos nucifera is just a fancy way to say coconut oil. But in cases when the scientific name of a simple ingredient is listed, the more familiar name of the ingredient will often be in parentheses next to it.
A common marketing technique is to disguise products in very simple-looking containers so that they look safe. The words “safe” or “made with natural ingredients” often appear on packages for additional emphasis. Once again, remember to always check the ingredient list.
A simple solution to avoid potentially harmful ingredients is to buy whole (unprocessed) and organic products. According to organic.org, organic ingredients are produced without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizer, genetically modified components, radiation, growth hormones or antibiotics. Organic practices limit the amount of harmful and cancer-causing chemicals that make it into many other foods. However, even when buying organic, ingredients should still be double-checked. In general, it’s better when products contain fewer ingredients. Also, be sure not to confuse “organic” with “natural.” According to simplesteps.org, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture only have guidelines for “all-natural” meat. They do not regulate what can be considered “natural” in any other products.
Located on West Stimson Avenue, the Farmacy is a local grocery store that sells organic and truly natural products. They carry cleaning supplies, produce, prepared foods, candy, lotions and soaps, personal hygiene products, teas, alternative medicines and vitamins. Also, the workers are assets when talking about what the store has to sell.
“One of the things that we offer is that we know a lot about our products,” said Ashley Eastman, a Farmacy employee. “Chances are if you ask a clerk at Kroger if quinoa is gluten free, they might not know. We know a lot about herbs, homeopathics, vitamins and minerals, amino acid, so we spend about half our time answering people’s questions about things like that and just talking to people who ask for our advice,” she said.
3. Be sweat free.
Around the world workers are being exploited. Corporations use workers from developing nations where there are no worker protection laws or environmental standards. Sweatshop labor is a common practice of conventional trade processes. Buying products made with fair trade practices instead of conventional trade methods is one way to avoid making purchases that are involved in the mistreatment of workers or the degradation of the environment.
According to the Fairtrade Foundation, Oxfam and Traidcraft—organizations focused on fighting poverty— fair trade is an alternative to conventional trade that strives for positive development for underprivileged workers. It also calls for higher environmental standards rather than conventional trade.
Donkey Coffee, located on West Washington Street, sells only fair trade certified coffee and chocolate. The Farmacy also sells a variety of fair trade certified products.
4. Know companies’ social records.
The lack of regulation in U.S. businesses makes it difficult to know which companies are being socially and environmentally responsible. Even though some companies have been exposed for their unjust practices, they don’t always have to improve their actions because people continue to buy purchase product from them.
The Better World Shopper is a resource that grades companies according to their social and environmental records. According to betterworldshopper.com, the key issues used in grading the companies are human rights, the environment, animal rights, community involvement and social justice.
Betterworldshopper.com ranked the following as the three worst
companies in the world, based on their social and environmental records:
1. Exxon-Mobil
2. Kraft/Nabisco
3. Wal-Mart
The following were ranked as the three best companies in the world, based on the same criteria:
1. Method
2. Seventh Generation
3. Organic Valley
Betterworldshopper.com allows people to browse through virtually any category of product—from cereal to cell phones—and see which companies are making the grade. It is also available as an iPod application. If local brands and small businesses don’t appear on the list, it’s more likely because they’re low-key, not necessarily because they aren’t trustworthy. 
Corporate giants often entail a wide variety of sub-companies. For example, Kraft Foods is composed of 61 different sub-companies according to the company’s website. A few familiar Kraft sub-companies include Nabisco, Capri Sun, Dentyne, Jell-O and Maxwell House. If a company has a negative social or environmental record, continuing to purchase their products only contributes to the problem. “If there are campaigns against buying certain brands, it would be more effective in causing change than demonstrations like Occupy Wall Street,” said Torin Jacobs, a resident at the Ohio University Ecohouse, which is a university-owned residence dedicated to sustainability education.
Making socially and environmentally conscious purchases is the responsibility of the shopper. The conventional way of shopping may seem “easier” or “cheaper,” but there are many rewards of shopping conscientiously. In the words of social justice activist Sharif Abdullah, “By accepting responsibility, we take effective steps toward our goal: an inclusive human society on a habitable planet, a society that works for all humans and for all nonhumans. By accepting responsibility, we move closer to creating a world that works for all.”
