Ethical choices when shopping - how do you decide?

[Arimeh]

For the moment - totally budget driven unfortunately, which means nothing organic

It will change once we sell this house and get ourselves in a better position financially though.

[saslia]

Ours is more like yours - we are as additive and preservative free as we can get so that takes priority.

[Trillian]

As I said in the other thread, we don't buy George Weston Foods owned brands, so that's Tip Top, Burgen, KR smallgoods, golden crumpets etc. I buy Australian Fresh juice, it is one of the more exxie ones but I know it has no added preservatives, sugar or water in it even though it isn't Aust owned. I only buy it every now and then as we are not big juice drinkers in this house so the cost isn't prohibitive. I never buy 'own brand' items as I have an issue with them forcing out other products to stock their own, inferior products. I do buy IGA branded stuff however as they are australian owned and made - usually just stuff like flour and sugar etc. Sometimes price dictates, sometimes taste does and sometimes it is an ethical stance like not buying from GWF.

there is a very comprehensive list here Australian owned supermarket guide - Today Tonight (link at bottom of page) and there is a lot on there that I didn't realise was Aussie owned and made, but was stuff that I brought anyway kwim?

[tk1999]

I must admit I don't concisously think ethically when doing my grocery shopping - usually my order of tick boxes is price, taste then ethical.

Except for eggs and chicken... they are my things that no matter what I have to have free range

[Bathsheba]

I can be whimsical about this. I agree, so often priorities seem to be in conflict. However on the whole I buy things which:

1. First priority is that it's a company I trust not to actually damage health. I don't trust J & J for instance so I don't buy their products. Also Nestle damages the health of millions of children all over the world so I do feel guilty buying products from them. I bought a bag of Allens lollies today and when i got it home i saw the Nestle logo on the back I don't usually buy lollies so wasn't in the know about this connection.

2. Second priority is the environment: food miles, packaging etc. Animal welfare etc. I generally stick to free range eggs. Equal to this is quality. I find that there is a correlation of quality and a companies "care factor" so usually this isn't hard to choose between.

3. Third priority is cost. We go through phases where our budget is tighter which means i tend to stick to the tried and true instead of experimenting... like I said in the other thread on organic food: I do find it hard to "go back" once I know that there is something pricey but high quality. I like fair trade chocolate and will stock up when it's on special. I am prepared to wait until some expensive things are cheaper... I'm flexible.

4. and then there are other factors like making sure we aren't eating the same foods week after week. I try hard to make sure we don't get in ruts which are unhealthy and increase risk if the foods you eat have limited nutritional value. We don't eat red meat so i have to make sure we include tempeh/tofu proteins as well for example... and to reinforce that variety is a good thing with our kids. This is really important... I see alot of families who eat the same thing week after week end up with weight issues... which I think means that their bodies must be craving a missing nutrient but they are just eating more of the same old stuff. (But that's another thread!)

I'm starting to go OT but essentially I find it hard to stick to rigid disciplined rules when it comes to grocery shopping but at least I vary my purchases so if I am making a poor choice one week at least I'm not making it every week.

I also think accumulating the knowledge to shop wisely (according to your priorities) takes time to establish... it would be hard to start a regime over night... I think most peoples buying habits evolve over time. I just hope I am evolving into a being a more environmentally/health conscious/politically correct/responsible buyer... I think I am compared to say 10 years ago.... and BB has played a large role in my education.

[luna moth]

First consideration for us is always food miles/environmental concerns. Canned food just does my head in when it comes to that - raw material mined in WA, shipped to Japan for pressing, back to Oz for being made into cans, then to wherever it's going to be filled, then back to Oz for sale. So, do you buy the organic beans that have come from Italy, or the non-organic ones that haven't travelled so far??? Can't handle it, so generally don't buy cans.

Next for us is the ethical concern; fair trade (free trade is actually the opposite!) or organic or drought-tolerant, or whatever.

Then we look at the packaging, and the sustainability level of that - paper/aluminium over plastic, large quantities over small, and never ever anything individually wrapped.

Price comes in pretty late into the equation. If something's on special we might buy a few.

Then we chuck it all on the bike trailer and ride home!

[Phteven]

Hmm. In no particular order here are the things I look for.
1. no Nestle!! (BTW I was wondering the other day - do any people who use formula boycott Nestle because of their business practices in the 3rd World? maybe that's another thread lol)
2. Organic. If there is an organic option I get it whether it is a staple like flour or something more exotic.
3. fair trade - we always buy the fair trade organic coffee and chocolate
4. additives - I always take my little yellow list. I don't bother with Aldi anymore because everything has additives.
5. Local and Australian - I almost never buy imported fruit and veges. I get bottled Australian garlic instead of the Chinese stuff. DH begged for cherries on Sunday do I got him a handful of American ones but generally I won't touch them. I buy limes from Fiji and NZ.
6. I like to buy woolmark wool.
7. Freerange. I try to only buy freerange chicken and eggs but I do have the odd Oporto's burger - if only they weren't so yummy *waaagh*
8. We tend to only buy the TNCC lollies. They use beef gelatine and only natural colours and flavours.
9. Recycled packaging and recyclable packaging.


DH hates shopping with me because of all my little shopping quirks but I tend to know what brands are ok and buy the same ones over and over again - it's only when he comes with me and wants something different that the label reading starts lol.

BTW - It's worth rechecking labels every now and then. I was horrified last week when I realised that the ice-cream I bought had changed its formula but then I found the new Weis icecream which is yummy and relatively natural and QLD based so I was happy again.

[Trillian]

Hmm. In no particular order here are the things I look for.
1. no Nestle!! (BTW I was wondering the other day - do any people who use formula boycott Nestle because of their business practices in the 3rd World? maybe that's another thread lol)

Yep that would be me. I do think it's ironic, possibly even hypocritical, but yes, the less I have to buy from them the better. Although I do not use Nestle-owned abm anymore, I use Karicare, which is just as bad as it was originally formuated by Truby King! You're damned if you do and damned if you don't LOL