tsk, tsk for liking Nestle'

This is my gf response on fb when I posted 'tsk, tsk for liking Netsle' - unethical company' on her wall:

'Rhi, unfortunately most big multinational companies are unethical whether it b slave labour, child labour, animal testing, destroying the environment etc. its the way of life unfortunately.'

I am gobsmacked that my gf, who is a smart cookie would think like that!

I was so taken off guard by her post, all I managed to write back was ' Yeah but doesn't mean we have to support the ones that are the worst at it!'

I am not even going to bother with another post, unless she posts something back....

I see her point. Im not going to comment on this subject too much though as I dont have much understanding of it.

That sounds like the usual cop out response by your GF. It's just all too hard to make a change so just say everyone does it so it's ok :rolleyes: Out of sight out of mind.

I don't know that I'd appreciate someone posting a comment like that on my facebook, you are entitled to an opinion without forcing it on others.

Attitudes like that annoy me - to argue that they all do it so there is no point in caring is kind of lame. Why not just say I don't care instead of blaming your hopelessness in the face of globalisation.
We all have the ability to vote with our wallets and it's not so hard. I own a copy of the ethical supermarket handbook and after using it for a month or 2 you get familiar with the brands that are ok and you just buy them as a routine so it doesn't slow your shopping down or cost more.

Maybe post some links on your FB to information on nestle's practices that are just wrong on so many levels, as an education to all.

I calmly inform people on why I don't like nestle products, I've also seen first hand the damage in Africa, so I explain what I've seen there. People are usually shocked and then start to make the ethical choices for their shopping. My family knows that I will not consume stuff in their homes that is a nestle product, it has taken about 15 years but some of them are coming around and do shop more ethically now. I'm the supposedly the rabid hippy in the family - they're used to it by now.

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I see her point. Im not going to comment on this subject too much though as I dont have much understanding of it.

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I do to a certain degree too and don't think I have a great understanding of this issue either. I have only become aware of companies like Nestle from what I have read on BB and articles it has made me more aware that there are better alternative choices.

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That sounds like the usual cop out response by your GF. It's just all too hard to make a change so just say everyone does it so it's ok :rolleyes: Out of sight out of mind.

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I think so too and I have to say I never really thought much about alternative choices due to my upbringing in the past, it is only now.

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I don't know that I'd appreciate someone posting a comment like that on my facebook, you are entitled to an opinion without forcing it on others.

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True, I probably should have tried a different approach, I just didn't really want to go into a whole massive post and seem that I was preaching.

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Attitudes like that annoy me - to argue that they all do it so there is no point in caring is kind of lame. Why not just say I don't care instead of blaming your hopelessness in the face of globalisation.
We all have the ability to vote with our wallets and it's not so hard. I own a copy of the ethical supermarket handbook and after using it for a month or 2 you get familiar with the brands that are ok and you just buy them as a routine so it doesn't slow your shopping down or cost more.

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Your post made me remember about an article I read or saw on TV about Cadbury putting palm oil into their chocolate and there was a huge consumer backlash b/c it changed the taste of the chocolate (I can't remember it being about ethical reasons), so they have taken the palm oil out & put whatever it was back in. Just goes to show that you are right - voting with our wallets can make a difference.

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Maybe post some links on your FB to information on nestle's practices that are just wrong on so many levels, as an education to all.

I calmly inform people on why I don't like nestle products, I've also seen first hand the damage in Africa, so I explain what I've seen there. People are usually shocked and then start to make the ethical choices for their shopping. My family knows that I will not consume stuff in their homes that is a nestle product, it has taken about 15 years but some of them are coming around and do shop more ethically now. I'm the supposedly the rabid hippy in the family - they're used to it by now.

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I haven't seen anything first hand - I usually only get my info from articles / tv programs. I watched a program on either ABC or SBS the other night about where products come from & child labour etc.... and it shocked me.
I cop a hard time from my DH who has the 'I don't give a damn' attitude, so I feel like I am advocating against a brick wall all the time. Time to find a different approach. :-/

Good on you. It takes guts to post something like that, and stand up for what you believe in. It's a bummer that she has that attitude (annoys me too!) but she might be quietly reading up on it and changing her mind right now.

Audax - I think she has or does think about it only b/c she then posted back that she just wanted a free coffee..... so, sounds like she got on the hype of some advertising campaign and hit 'like' for a freebie without actually thinking.

Onyx - Where did you get your ethical handbook from?

Ethical Consumer Guide

you can get an app too.

i've got the ethical consumer app on my iphone and it's great! you can pull it out at the supermarket and it helps you choose one brand over the other.

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Ethical Consumer Guide

you can get an app too.

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i've got the ethical consumer app on my iphone and it's great! you can pull it out at the supermarket and it helps you choose one brand over the other.

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Thanks ladies, I'll put it on my iPhone for convenience :-)

Although I agree with your opinion, I would be pretty ****ed off if someone wrote that on my wall...I think a pm might have been better to raise her awareness and not make her feel publically judged which was probably her initial reaction.

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Ethical Consumer Guide

you can get an app too.

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I just got mine at a bookshop. Back in the olden days when smartphones weren't around yet.

You have raised my awareness. Thank you.

I thought that was the whole point of "fairtrade" stuff - so that big companies had to prove they weren't acting like expletives to their workers?

There are a few companies I avoid not because they have shown they were bad in the "old days" when "everyone did it" - but because they were caught, caught and caught again and don't change their practices.

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Although I agree with your opinion, I would be pretty ****ed off if someone wrote that on my wall...I think a pm might have been better to raise her awareness and not make her feel publically judged which was probably her initial reaction.

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It certainly wasn't my intention to 'judge' her - I was trying to lightheartedly bring to her attention about Nestle' being an unethical company. I didn't want to post something (didn't even think of PMing her) that seemed condesending and that is why I chose to post how I did. ausgirl did earlier point out that it probably wasn't the best way to approach that situation and looking back, I do tend to agree now. Thanks also for pointing out from another perspective that what might seem like the best approach isn't always the case. I am certainly a novice when it comes to ethical awareness and I guess my novice passion got in the way approaching this subject a better way.

I have downloaded the iPhone app and sheesh I am a novice. I am gobsmacked by the amount of other unethical companies around!

I think it's awesome that you want to raise awareness, i've tried and hopefully gotten through to a few people, i've just found that people wuite often don't want to hear unless they're ready to hear it :(

Hmmm.... I guess it is like anything though - I can be standoffish (?) with certain subjects, particularly if I don't know or undertand about them. I'll see her this week at work & see if she is 'funny' with me. I think she'll be fine otherwise she would have let rip on FB ;P

Yep and she can always delete the comment :)