Day 2 - Back at the Ranch...
Hi folks,
So for all my promises of good recipes and directions to your nearest Fairtrade supermarket, my shopping mission was nigh on disastrous. Or at least that's how it felt at 9.30pm on my second night in. I was knackered, I'd been shopping since I left work, and my moods had been in a whirlwind from eating chocolate, geobars, fruitcake and dried fruits all day. Sugar rush, sugar crash, coffee rush, coffee crash. But all for a good cause, eh?
What I thought about this morning was the issue of my personal dichotomy - I am, I reckon, relatively speaking, a pretty ethical consumer: I buy Fairtrade tea, coffee and chocolate when I see it, I don't buy certain sports brands, fast foods or fizzy drinks because of their corporate irresponsibility, and I re-use m plastic bags religiously. Yet, I am a creature of habit: I get into work every morning, check my emails, trot downstairs and make myself a bowl of half milk-half water porridge with honey. I choose between a list of possibly 8 ingredients to make a wrap for my lunch and I get the bus to work and walk home. Every day from Monday to Friday. And this, folks, is the crux. If my supermarket doesn't stock what I need, will I move elsewhere? If it only has FT teas and coffees, will I shop somewhere else especially for my FT rice and pasta?
And then I thought of what I can do - I can shop in Lidl, Superquinn, M&S and Dunnes, who all have made at least some commitment to fairer trading practices and I can ask them over and over and over again, to stock more Fairtrade products - vegetables, flowers, fruit... All those raw materials that are exported should be done without leaving behind hunger, disease and struggle.
If you want a 'Stock It' card to hand in to your manager, you can contact me or you can contact Fairtrade Ireland and they will send some out. It's a start - and it's all about the first step.
So for all my promises of good recipes and directions to your nearest Fairtrade supermarket, my shopping mission was nigh on disastrous. Or at least that's how it felt at 9.30pm on my second night in. I was knackered, I'd been shopping since I left work, and my moods had been in a whirlwind from eating chocolate, geobars, fruitcake and dried fruits all day. Sugar rush, sugar crash, coffee rush, coffee crash. But all for a good cause, eh?
What I thought about this morning was the issue of my personal dichotomy - I am, I reckon, relatively speaking, a pretty ethical consumer: I buy Fairtrade tea, coffee and chocolate when I see it, I don't buy certain sports brands, fast foods or fizzy drinks because of their corporate irresponsibility, and I re-use m plastic bags religiously. Yet, I am a creature of habit: I get into work every morning, check my emails, trot downstairs and make myself a bowl of half milk-half water porridge with honey. I choose between a list of possibly 8 ingredients to make a wrap for my lunch and I get the bus to work and walk home. Every day from Monday to Friday. And this, folks, is the crux. If my supermarket doesn't stock what I need, will I move elsewhere? If it only has FT teas and coffees, will I shop somewhere else especially for my FT rice and pasta?
And then I thought of what I can do - I can shop in Lidl, Superquinn, M&S and Dunnes, who all have made at least some commitment to fairer trading practices and I can ask them over and over and over again, to stock more Fairtrade products - vegetables, flowers, fruit... All those raw materials that are exported should be done without leaving behind hunger, disease and struggle.
If you want a 'Stock It' card to hand in to your manager, you can contact me or you can contact Fairtrade Ireland and they will send some out. It's a start - and it's all about the first step.
posted by Eilis at
2:05 PM
More Info 
1 Comments:
fairtrade laydee-it does look like you need some protein....marks and sparks should look at ready meals which use FT ingredients and whip up something nutritious as well as fair
Post a Comment
<< Home