Clear Information Unavailable

"Mysteries abound where most we seek for answers."
–Ray Bradbury

I'm finding that this blog is going to be harder to write than I initially anticipated. Partly because good information is harder to find than I had hoped.

In my internet searches for a magical list that would break down which companies are "good" and which companies are "bad," I have found very little. One company I researched showed up on both a list of "Most Ethical" companies in America and a list of companies to avoid for unethical practices.

I found what almost appears to be a good website for what I'm looking for called Ethical Consumer. This website actually allows you to explore company ethics using five different scales that you can adjust depending on how important each category is for you. Categories include: Environment, Animals, People, Politics, and Product sustainability. The website provides detailed information about why companies are or are not ethical based on these scales-- just what I've been looking for, but...

Ethical Consumer is based in the UK and analyzes mostly companies based in the UK, thus making it impractical for my concerns, especially considering that one can only access their information through paid membership to the site. As much as I believe that information regarding ethical consumerism is valuable, I can't help questioning how ethical it is to put a price on ethics. What are they getting at here? Maybe its simply a basic need for funding in order to gather information... but it's striking how rich some non-profit CEOs can get.

All I have been able to gather so far is that if a company actually uses ethical practices, it will probably advertise the hell out of how ethical it is. If a company isn't advertising how ethical it is, it probably isn't very ethical. Even companies that advertise themselves as ethical often fall short of what we'd like them to be. As far as my primary ethical concern, fair human labor practices, I gather that the safest bets are products grown or made in countries with laws protecting laborers and, for those of us lucky enough to live in farm states, local farmer's markets.

I've found very little in my search for proof that some of my favorite products and chain restaurants are ethical businesses. If I'm really going to make the life-change to eat and shop ethically, I suspect that there will be certain things that I will just have to go without.

Seed of Interest

My interest in ethical eating started with the film Bananas!*. My International Relations professor showed us this documentary during my first semester of college, and I was horrified. The film sheds light on the violence and exploitation taking place in the banana industry. Exploitation and slavery are still very much a part of the American economic system today. Only now, it's typically out of the country, out of sight, and covered by manipulative mass marketing techniques.

Thinking about ethical eating confuses and frustrates me. Even as I attempt to understand more, road blocks pop up in every direction from finances to corporate manipulation, and I find myself not knowing what to believe. Systems, economies, and markets are realities that are too huge for me to control. At times I have felt resigned to accepting the exploitation as just part of living in the United States, but I can't believe that it has to be this way.

We are a country that decides again and again to open our minds to the ideal that all people are created equally. As we continue to progress toward greater equality for all within our culture and legal system, we continue to reveal inadequacies in our actions, which leads to more change and more openness.

This blog is not about judging the way anyone eats. It's about growing in our understanding of where our food is coming from and how we can consume in such a way that better benefits the earth, animal life, and humanity.

This blog is also a means of documenting my own progress. I am starting from square one. I know nothing more than that the exploitation exists. I am addicted to foods and restaurants that I suspect of poor ethical decision making. My husband and I have little expendable income. Not only will we have to learn what foods are ethical and what foods are not, we will also have to learn to change our financial priorities to take the monetary hit that appears to come along with ethical eating.