To Till and to Tend

As I pointed out on my last blog post, “not-good” companies are trying to present themselves as “good” companies through unusual advertisements.  Chevron, one of the major fossil-fuel companies, has taken an interesting route in their advertising. They’re not even attempting to alter their image – they’ve put their advertising bucks into claiming individual action is the solution. No doubt, I believe each one of us has responsibility to do what we can to better the world, but Judaism (and all other value systems, too) teaches us that we are to lead the way and model good behavior… not throw the responsibility onto others.  League of Conservation Voters points out that if Chevron execs took this campaign seriously, they have a few behaviors they could change, too.

The LCV states in a press release that went public last week:

In train stations, at bus stops, online, even on our coffee cups, Chevron ads are trying to convince us that the key to ending our energy crisis is individual action.  Over pictures of everyday Americans, taglines from Chevron’s “Will You Join Us” ad campaign read:

“I will leave the car at home more.”
“I will take my golf clubs out of the trunk.”
“I will replace 3 light bulbs with CFLs.”
“I will finally get a programmable thermostat.”
“I will consider buying a hybrid.”

All good ideas, certainly, but no matter how many clubs they’re carrying in their golf bags, no matter how many light bulbs they change, no matter how hard they consider that hybrid, the folks at Chevron could probably do a little more.  

Click here to see what other suggestions the LCV has. 

The list of concerns when food shopping just keeps lengthening. Once upon a time, I simply bought on the basis of price, kashrut, and perceived quality but over time, my definition of quality has evolved. Price is actually much lower on the list of consideration.
Some of the concerns are:
1) ingredients. If there are too many, or I don’t recognize them as actual food, I don’t buy the product.
2) packaging. Is the packaging recyclable? If not (hello, hummus!), is it at least minimized?
3) extra points if the product is organic.
4) deduction of points if the product is from too far away. In many cases you can’t telll where the product is from, of course, but now we have to pay attention to food miles, how far the product has shipped.
5) extra points if the product has a hashgachah. But since I’m primarily vegetarian, I’ll go with a vegan or reliable vegetarian designation. (Obviously there is a wide range of observance on this issue.)
6) cost. It’s hard, but not impossible, to find extremely expensive vegetarian food.
7) size. It’s more resource efficient to buy a larger size of a product, providing you can use up the contents. (Like a plastic half gallon vs. a quart – they each have one cap, so buy the bigger one. Unless the milk will sour before you finish it.)
is the product Israeli? This used to be a big plus, since I felt like buying Israeli was virtuous. Now I’m coming around to it being a minus, since it’s shipped such a long distance.
Like I said, oy vey. This is hard. My personal compromise is that I buy light weight items from Israel, such as tea. (Which is only packaged in Israel; the tea is imported from Asia, I presume.) And Israeli wine. The studies that came out awhile back about wine showed that wine miles are counterintuitive. East coasters are better off, ecologically, by buying wine from Europe than California. In any event, I don’t buy that much wine, so have permitted myself to indulge in Israeli wines. My favorite was one we found last summer, organic wine from the Galil, named “Barn Owl” in honor of the barn owls which eat so many of the critters that do wine in that the vineyard can eschew pesticides. I wasn’t able to find it on line for this post, so perhaps it was a special edition wine.
How do you work your way through the food purchasing decision tree?

“[The Jewish people] were to observe [the 14^th and 15^th days of Adar] as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending mishloach manot - gifts to one another – and matanot l’evyonim - presents to the poor.” - Megilat Esther 9:22

With Purim beginning tonight, Jews around the world are gathering items of food, drink and fun to share with friends as mishloach manot. Ideally, two parties benefit: The recipient enjoys receiving, and the giver enjoys giving.

But what if the joys of mishloach manot could go beyond giving and receiving? What if the money we use to buy our gifts – both this Purim and in general – can also fulfill the obligation of matanot l’evyonim?

Today, a growing number of companies are producing environmentally and socially responsible goods that allow us to treat our friends and ourselves while doing good for the world and the people in it. With a bit of research and a willingness to spend a little extra, we can ensure that coffee production doesn’t lead to deforestation and chocolate growers earn a living wage. And the options do not end with food products; flowers, handmade carpets, bamboo bowls, energy saving appliances and even wedding presents from department stores can be purchased in ways that give back.

In a holiday that we associate with merry-making and frivolity, it’s nice to remember that we don’t have to put our social responsibilities aside. Few actions speak louder than where we spend our money. Sometimes a gift can be more than a gift.

List of Links:
Fair Trade Foundation
Ten Thousand Villages, a Fair Trade store
Earth Aid Kits
I Do Foundation

The Global Rose as Social Tool, New York Times, March 13