Shopping Matters

A lively, convoluted discussion of the power of consumers-to create positive change in the world-ensued at a class reunion I attended in the Cascades recently. Well, this is really more of a Big Chill than a class reunion-involving five graduates of the University of Washington School of Social Work doctoral program. Every couple of years we get together and drive each other nuts for three days like we did every day for four years in the 90's. Any outsider might think that people who earn doctoral degrees in social work would be cut from a similar cloth, but in this case, nothing could be further from the truth. Let me explain:

Steve, an enthusiastic Republican from Texas, was working in State public welfare policy-making before earning his PhD. He was fond of telling us he was "just a phone call away from the Governor's office". With the Governor now in the White House, Steve has moved east.

Yeng, one of the first Hmong people to earn a doctorate, grew up in agrarian Laos and struggled to immigrate to the United States, a journey that included many years in a refugee camp en route. Conservative, traditional Yeng has been working ever since to improve opportunities for Southeast Asian immigrants.

Shannon, from the Florida Everglades region, is a poster child for the Audubon Society. With a background in wilderness education, while at the UW Shannon returned to the Everglades at every opportunity, to witness the awesome bird migrations, help in organizing events to save the manatees, or pitch in during the busy seasons for the family fishing business.

Jackson is a self-proclaimed "bleeding heart liberal" from Chicago. With an impressive work history in community organizing, he's, well… crusty. Street worn. To Jackson, everything personal is political and vice versa. The man isn't smooth, but wow, does he have integrity.

One thing we all share is a desire, or more accurately, a passion, for making the world a better place. While we have wide-ranging thoughts on just how to go about that, we understand, as do a growing number of people, that the power of consumers is substantial and when used thoughtfully can make a world of difference.

Our conversation about the power of purchase quickly focused on the increasingly popular practice of Fair Trade and Fair Trade certifications. Fair Trade is a social and economic movement that purposively works with people in developing nations, creating structures that allow them to move from economic vulnerability to self-sufficiency. This is typically done through establishing stable, long-term business relationships with farmers and democratic cooperatives of farmers. By-passing middlemen, Fair Trade importers deal directly with farmers. This practice of working directly with farmers-the people who know and nurture their crop-increases the likelihood of obtaining a higher quality product than those offered by middlemen who may mix high and low quality products to improve profit. Purchasing Fair Trade products is, in many ways, akin to North Americans purchasing produce from a local farmers' market instead of large grocery store chains. It helps strengthen the local farm community AND market-goers enjoy more flavorful, nutritious food.

These long-term business relationships go beyond improving access to the marketplace. They strengthen small businesses by offering farmers and farm collectives a guaranteed minimum price for their crop (neither a fixed price nor a subsidy-the distinctions are important), a premium for organically grown crops, and pre-harvest credit to build the capacity of their farms and related businesses.

Yeng, like most Laotians, is fiercely democratic, valuing independence and self-governance with tenacity, balks at this: "Collectives? Have you turned socialist?" I start to assure him that these collectives are firmly democratic and transparent, but it's Steve, the son of Texas ranchers, who tells him that American farming and ranching families have done the very same thing with coops, granges, and other collective endeavors, making it easier and more lucrative to produce and sell their livestock and crops.

Fair Trade assures a consistent living wage to rural families in an increasingly complex and volatile global economy, likely to leave them behind. But, through the Fair Trade certification process, farmers are also empowered to develop business acumen and infrastructure to compete in the global marketplace, as they deal directly with importers.

Steve surprised me by his familiarity with the Fair Trade process, but I guess this is essentially about new market development: "The whole certification process isn't just for the farmers, you know. It assures us that a disinterested third party certifies that these democratic economic exchanges are really taking place. I always look for the Fair Trade Certification symbol on products when I'm in stores or cafés. Even Safeway and Costco are carrying these things". In the US we can purchase Fair Trade certified coffee, tea, chocolate, herbs, vanilla, cocoa, sugar, rice, and fresh fruit.

I seized the moment of silence left by our shared surprise at Steve's confidence in the Fair Trade process. "While you're at it, make sure to look for the organically grown certification as well, especially if it's coffee. Cancer rates are soaring in coffee-growing regions where chemical pesticides and herbicides are used. This isn't the case in regions where coffee grows organically. Here's another area where just the way we spend our money can have a significant impact, in this case on the health of others, and our own."

Shannon joined in to remind us that large scale coffee farming that levels forests to plant fast-growing, sun tolerant varieties and extensive pesticide use isn't just bad for the people growing coffee beans and the people drinking their brew. They also lead to the decline of the North American migratory birds. From our research methodology class we were all familiar with the radical departure the Smithsonian Institute took from it's indifferent scientific stance to establish a Bird-Friendly certification for coffee farms that maintain the forest canopy needed by birds that winter in Latin America.

Still ruminating on the whole certification process, Yeng wondered why we need third party certification. Why can't we simply trust the simple farmers of the world when they vow to pay the people who work in their fields a living wage and say they don't use chemical pesticides. Shannon wondered, too, if this wasn't the height of arrogance, going into the developing world and telling them how they should trade with others and the kinds of farming practices they should be practicing.

None of us could have predicted we'd ever hear Jackson quoting Ronald Reagan, so when he said "hey folks, haven't we learned anything from the problems with imports from China this year? Trust but verify!" everyone laughed. But only because of the unlikely source of Jackson's wisdom. We all agreed with the sentiment.

"Whoa, I'm starting to get that overwhelmed compassion fatigue feeling!", Jackson bemoans. "Are you telling me I have to shop selectively for all these different items in hopes of finding the bird-friendly, Fair Trade, and organic, versions of each? That's a little more than I can generate the energy for."

I saw my opening: "So, do what you do best and choose strategically, Jackson. Make the biggest impact you can and build from there. If you want to make a big difference, start with coffee. Here's why…"

"First of all, I know you drink gallons of it, and everyday, more than half of all Americans drink coffee. At an average of 3.5 cups per coffee-drinker, we're consuming about 330 million cups a day! This makes coffee drinking an area where we can make a real, world-wide difference-for our beautiful song birds, for coffee farmers in the Americas, Indonesia, and Africa, and for ourselves, simply in our choice of coffee! Besides, these coffees, grown on small farms, high in the mountains, under native canopy, taste better-it's what coffee was made to be!"

Jackson said "the taste doesn't really matter to me, I"ll drink anything that will wake me up in the morning". Slightly irritated by people who don't seem to be listening in conversations, I tried to summarize: "Hello! Jackson! If taste doesn't guide your selection of coffee, then maybe the economic and political reality will: when you buy coffee that is grown organically and traded fairly, you make an appreciable difference in the lives of the people who grow those beans and you support the small farmer. Buy the cheap stuff or grab your caffeine at a place that serves cheap coffee and you're more likely supporting a large plantation that has denuded the area, and as a result must use chemical-based pesticides and herbicides that are likely having a negative impact on the health of those who grow and harvest the beans, yourself, and North American songbirds. So, look, do the right thing: buy the stuff grown organically by small farmers around the world, and you get a small reward: delicious coffee." Steve piped in, "don't freak out though, Jackson, you don't have to like it for the flavor"!

Shannon expanded the conversation about the power of purchase: "it's not just about the land crops, folks. You know, 75% of the world is covered by ocean. Researchers around the world collaborating on ocean studies recently released findings from a study showing that about a third of our fish stocks are in collapse. They're estimating that within 40 years they'll all be in collapse. The study is showing correlations between demand and collapse. So, as demand for specific kinds of fish goes up the rate of collapse of that species goes right up with it."

"So, by buying seafood from stocks that are thriving, we can help shift demand away from seafood that is in decline. The seafood in grocery stores and restaurants are there because people are requesting them. We can turn that around, and guys, the good news is that fish stocks are pretty good at bouncing back when given a chance."

The Blue Ocean Institute (with a website by the same name) is helping everyone who cares about sustainability of our seafoods by creating and updating a list of seafoods that are in danger and those that are not. It helps you choose, when you're at the grocery store or in a restaurant.

This stuff is everywhere-it's getting easier and easier to let our dollars shift the way food is grown, caught, or produced. The times we live in may be complex, but for people who are up to it, the ability to make a difference in the world, simply by making informed decisions about how we spend (even our coffee) money is exhilarating! We can contribute to meaningful social change without ever leaving the grocery store.

Back home now, I'm thinking this hope in the power of purchase is partially a function of getting older, too. We see that small changes, or small effects, over a long period of time, or across a large number of people, is powerful.

Walking the talk. Continuity of lifestyle. Responsible global citizenship. I realize that, though they may be modest, with increased opportunities like this to incorporate my values into my daily life-something so simple as my grocery shopping-the happier I am, the greater my peace of mind, and the better I sleep at night. Now THAT'S healthy.