Ethical
Living – why bother?
Lately I have been discovering some of the sad truths
about our supermarkets. Not the sort of “truths” you see on ‘Today Tonight’ or
‘A Current Affair’ (which only ever seem to be interested in false advertising
or Woolworths/Coles price battles), I’m talking about the truth behind the food
I buy and how it came to be on the shelf.
We live in time of human rights abuse, animal cruelty,
environmental instability and none of these issues are being helped by the
massive impact of the food industry. Unfortunately, these issues seem quite
removed from our everyday life. Questions such as ‘Which brand of chocolate is
on special this week?’ or “Do I shop at Coles or Woolworths this time?” hardly
seem relevant to human rights abuse or releasing children from slave labour,
but the fact is that every time we buy something, the money we spend endorses a
company and its activities, whether we are aware of it or not.
Greed and profit are powerful things. The Bible has a
lot to say about the rich person and how he/she uses his/her money, (see James
5:1-6, Luke 16:19-31, Jeremiah 22:13-17) and it would be a mistake to think
that God is not referring to us in these passages. We are blessed with so much
in this country; human rights, public health, education, not to mention the
basics like clean-running water and access to food. However, not all of the
benefits we enjoy consider those who have less, those who are struggling to
survive off our wealth. If you knew who was being exploited for your tasty chocolate
or coffee blend, would you still buy it? That’s what ethical shopping is all
about.
Learning about which companies and which products are
having a negative impact on our world has helped me become a more
ethically-considerate shopper. By purchasing
a “Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping 2011” (available at www.ethical.org.au)
I can now make decisions based on equality, fair trading and environmental
sustainability rather than just choosing the cheapest or the tastiest brand I
might normally buy. At first this was a
bit frustrating because it meant that I couldn’t just do my usual ‘grab and go’
style of shopping, not worrying about the source or production history of my
chosen product like I used to do. But really, when I took my perspective off
myself for a moment and thought about the difference my choices were making for
those that actually harvested my food for me, what cost was that? The question
I continue to ask myself (and you can too!) is “What do I
value more?” Do I value the taste of Nestle chocolate more than helping abolish
child labour? Do I value the top brand of coffee more than giving coffee
farmers a wage with which they can actually provide for their families? In
comparison to these important problems, giving up my favourite flavours or
brand-name products was a very small price to pay.
So, what can you do to help fight the ethical battle
and take a stand against injustice and exploitation? So much!! But here are a
few suggestions just to get you started:
1: Buy an ethical shopping guide from the website
mentioned above (or get the ‘shop ethical!’ app on your iphone if you’re a
techno-shopper) and learn about which products you should avoid.
2: Change your perspective! For most of us, time, cost
and convenience are the guiding factors for our shopping choices. These aren’t
bad reasons, but do they reflect the true cost of our purchases to people and
the environment?
3: Look for the Fair-Trade logo. If you see this logo
(insert logo here somewhere) on the product, you know it’s been made ethically!
Try choosing one product a week and swapping it for a fair-trade alternative.
Before you know it your whole pantry will be fair (and your conscience will
too)!
4: Ask yourself: “What do I value more?” Jesus Christ
was very clear about how we must care and speak for the poor and the oppressed.
Read Matthew 25:31-46 for an insight into how highly Jesus valued this way of
living, then think about how your shopping choices can reflect this teaching.
Money talks, and your dollar literally is your vote so
let’s support the practices that we know are the right ones and make our world
a better place to live in.
No comments:
Post a Comment