Ethics.

The "good book" I mentioned I was reading on the train in an earlier blog was The Rough Guide to Ethical Shopping. It was (somewhat surprisingly) mostly well balanced between the snap judgement idea of "ethics" and longer term ramifications, but I can't help but think it raises many more questions than any book could answer in 350 pages.

Of course all multi-national companies aren't inherently evil. They exist, and occasionally they do some very dubious things, but a lot of the big brands try to do something to counter this.

I am reminded of my struggle with Tesco. They exist, and me boycotting it really won't have much effect - in fact, I am certain that they have regained my missing profits through new customers many hundredfold over in the time I have been avoiding their doors. I mock people when they announce their intentions to shop their, and they usually reply that they have very little choice in the matter - that is both the point, and utterly incorrect. There are alternatives - they just might not always be seen.

I avoid Tesco for very petty reasons, but the more I learn of them, the more I become determined not to darken their aisles again. This is probably partly to justify within my own mind not returning there, but also because I genuinely don't like some of their practices.

But what are the ramifications of this? Do I roll these same personal judgements against other
businesses, and where do I stop?

Do I stop buying Organic veg grown abroad - or anything for that matter - because of the pollution caused by the transportation of something I really do not need?

Or do I keep buying it, helping to support the workers who produce what I want?

Do I stop buying it, because my custom is merely supporting a trade which destroys commerce on a local level, both within the farflung country and within these merry shores?

The truth of the matter is that I do try to buy local, and I do try to buy organic. We've started with a box scheme, and we walk to the butchers each week. We're lucky that we even have a Fishmonger on the market now, a trade which seems to be slowing dying off. We still shop at a supermarket - Waitrose - but only for bits and pieces we can't get elsewhere. I keep an eye on the country of origins nowadays, and am always surprised (check out the fresh herbs, they're always worth a giggle).

But is this necessarily the right thing to do? Sure, my food is fresher, better for me, and better for my local community. But what about the man I cannot see? I wonder if the missing penny from my custom will ever be replace, let alone a hundredfold over.

I simplify of course. I could add oil (the petrol for the delivery of my weekly box must come into cnsideration), cotton, man-made fibres, peat, free-range food, even rice into the mix, but I'm sure you get the gist.

We do define our own lines in life. I guess I'm just finding mine. I do know this, though: my line still does not go near Tesco.

Anyway, enough of this. Have a cat.