Walking towards Freedom... how we shop
This week's Jewish News features my every-so-often comment piece, which I wanted to tie in with these posts taking us on our journey towards Pesach. I can't link to it here right now as apparently TotallyJewish.com hasn't been updated this week, but in short it was a little encouragement for us to think about how our shopping at Pesach enslaves others, and how sparse fair trade etc. products are in many Kosher shops.
We already pay such a premium for many supervised products, that we don't like to imagine the extra cost of fair trade, organic etc. Of course if we rely less on products and go back to basics a little we would do both our pockets and our bodies a favour. Cheese, Meat, Fruit, Veg, Potatoes, Eggs...
Having said that, I was delighted on a trip to a kosher super market this evening to discover a freezer cabinet full of kosher, free range, organic chickens. And although smaller than you might find in kosher butchers, the price was fairly comparable considering the benefits. If necessary I will be delighted to eat less meat but better meat, and we stocked up for Pesach on these very smug chickens.
To help us think about how our shopping enslaves others at a time when we should be thinking about freedom for all, this site gives some pause for thought: http://slaveryfootprint.org/ It isn't perfect, as it doesn't take into account your current purchasing habits (fair trade, second hand etc) but it's a good starting point and educational tool to help us remember that slavery is still an issue for millions in the world; more now than at any other time in history.
We already pay such a premium for many supervised products, that we don't like to imagine the extra cost of fair trade, organic etc. Of course if we rely less on products and go back to basics a little we would do both our pockets and our bodies a favour. Cheese, Meat, Fruit, Veg, Potatoes, Eggs...
Having said that, I was delighted on a trip to a kosher super market this evening to discover a freezer cabinet full of kosher, free range, organic chickens. And although smaller than you might find in kosher butchers, the price was fairly comparable considering the benefits. If necessary I will be delighted to eat less meat but better meat, and we stocked up for Pesach on these very smug chickens.
To help us think about how our shopping enslaves others at a time when we should be thinking about freedom for all, this site gives some pause for thought: http://slaveryfootprint.org/ It isn't perfect, as it doesn't take into account your current purchasing habits (fair trade, second hand etc) but it's a good starting point and educational tool to help us remember that slavery is still an issue for millions in the world; more now than at any other time in history.
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