Ethical Shopper

We try to make the world a better place in little everyday ways where we can. I don't pretend we are making anything like the impact we could - but we, like many, are on the Western Treadmill of work, school, housework and not too much else and this is one area we can manage right now.
Spending our money where it does the least harm and possibly some good is our aim.

I try to stay out of supermarkets a lot. I buy fruit and vegetables through a co-op (Harvest Hub) which tells me who grew my fruit and where. We grow some of our own citrus and herbs. I buy very little meat - and only free range or organic. I buy sustainable fish types from a proper fish shop and very little tinned fish. We have our own chickens for eggs. We make a lot of our own bread and other baked goods. We make some of our cheese and yoghurt. And if we weren't so firmly on the treadmill we would make and grow a lot more.


When I do need to shop in a supermarket, I try to choose one of the smaller chains, Franklins usually, and I choose brands and support businesses that behave ethically. To simplify this I use an App called "Ethical Shopper"
This was slow early on but quickly I came to know the brands to choose and those to avoid and now it's fairly simple.

Sometimes you come up with products that are difficult and have to make some compromises or changes. For example, I now buy most cosmetic and toiletry items at chemists, health food shops or department stores where I get a better range of options - I discovered the massive range in supermarkets really only comes from about 3 companies.

Sometimes I compromise - I buy some fair trade chocolate from a company that has some black marks for it's other chocolate products - but figure the fair trade purchase and message is worth it.

This almost always means we pay more for things. But we are comfortable with that.

It's small - but across a whole year of eating it must make a difference - and if I can influence someone else to adopt it, and they can influence someone else etc- the difference may become big enough to change some business and farming practices!

Off my soapbox and back to my cooking now.

Nicola