The middle class crisis...some simple ways to fight back

reply to post by gluetrap


I totally agree with many of what has been said here. especially bartering! but the issue i have is that you keep pushing Whole Foods. they are still a big nationwide company that sells many products from other big companies. I have worked at a family owned health food grocery store for over ten years and i guess you could say my employers are in competition with them so take this however you want but my employer has pointed out more than a few things that would make you think twice about how "green" whole foods really is. they use similar tactics that any mainstream retail store would use to paint a better picture in an effort to out sell the competition. i wont get into specifics here but you can google many articles on what i mean so you can decide for yourselves.

So, like mentioned the real thing to do if you really wanted to "Stick it to the man" should be either grow your own veggies or support your local farmer. go to farmers markets or the actual farm. then learn how to can your own foods so you can store them through the winters.

reply to post by homeskillet


obviously in the spirit of the thread it is better to shop at smaller locally owned stores, but in the original post i was talking about shopping responsibly in general.
I dont know about how green they really are, obviously they are a big company with and along with that comes issues that make it more difficult to stay grass roots
but i do know they pay very well compared to say walmart or the other grocery stores and have excellent benefits compared to most large national corporations.

it is sort of the lesser of two evils type situation.

We actually have wild oats here not a whole foods, which until recently was a somewhat smaller company..it is now owned by whole foods although i havent seen many changes. I have been to whole foods and much prefer wild oats...we will see if that matters in a few months once the changes are fully in place

We do have a couple of smaller locally owned health food stores and I shop there when they have what I need, but often they have a very limited supply of veggies or fruits (sort of puny and shrively too..which is a specific store problem), and I do love the Bulk Bins at Wild Oats!

[edit on 31-1-2008 by gluetrap]

reply to post by gluetrap



i would agree then that they are the lesser of the evils (compared to walmart for example) in that they treat their workers well. i would also say they are a good start if you are new to health food but eventually it would be better investigate more and find more local sources.

to add to this list, you could think of alternative fuels. a promising alternative is running waste vegetable oil in diesel cars. not ethanol but waste vegetable oil. basically you take waste oil that restaraunts are happy to get rid of for free(since they have to pay to have it removed) and convert an older diesel motor to run on it.what you would have to do is buy an older diesel car/truck and buy a conversion kit or do it DIY by running an extra tank with a few other parts, then get yourself some free oil from a local restaurant and do a few things to make it more suitable for a motor and wallah! a lower emission recycled fuel source that practically only costs your time.

here's a few links;

greasecar

frybrid

a short video

lots of good info here

lots of good links!

oh, and PS. you'd be better off not advertising because a few people have been fined for unpaid taxes by avoiding a fuel surcharge when you buy fuel at the pump.

edit: more links added



[edit on 1/31/2008 by homeskillet]

I believe a few of our city busses run off of veggie oil
I remember a newscast about them working the same, and no extra or differing costs to ride
but that they smell vaguely like french fries when driving behind them in the car...off to do some digging

A few years ago down the road in a vacant lot was a communal garden. I planted some tomatos, carots, cucumbers, onions and squash and helped out in the watering and weeding...someone ate most of the produce when it came time to pick, but a lot of vagrants pass by in route to a large park where they can camp, and I assumed they must have taken the veggies in the night...no matter, I enjoyed watering and working in the garden more than I would have eating them anyway....

What are communities in urban areas doing to bring about more of these...(it's still a vacant lot, but no garden there now--I think the landlord didn't like the high watering bill---but if we were to get serious about these they would have to be secured better to avoid vandalism and theft in the night etc...)-- so many people now live in condos and rentals with little space to garden. I can envision big sections of parks and various places all over the cities for these gardens, yet they don't exist? Maybe things will have to get a bit tougher to "persuade" people to actually change their habits and grow more of their own stuff...say like when gas goes above $10 p/gal...we could all live so much more efficiently if we lived within walking distance of work, and grew a lot of our own food, and were able to generate our own juice (electricity)...you'd think people and our representatives would be tripping over one another to make this happen! Of course we know who's interests they really represent... *sighs*

reply to post by skyshow


In my community in Athens, Ohio there is an organization called Community Food Initiatives that will come to your house and till the land AND provide you with seeds and starts. If you can afford to pay the 20$ a year to become a member that's good. If not, they will still do it (if you are a low-income family). They also host community classes where the women of the community will teach you haw to can and preserve your produce, as well as provide you with utensils (jars and things) you'll need to get started. CFI has instituted school gardens, as well, where they teach children how to grow food and they participate in growing a huge garden for all the time they are in school. The experience exposes them to conversations about healthy eating habits and offers an opportunity to educate them at an early age. Maybe stop the epidemic of childhood obesity!

Two years ago CFI also started collecting food waste from local restaurants that wanted to participate in community composting. The compost is free to anyone that wants to use it at the community garden (my favorite subject--every community has SOME space for a garden!) and they also sell it to fund their projects. (I think it's a 20 lb bag for about 3$).

These are the things we CAN do in our communities--if we educate people about the possibilities.

Each of those low-income families can save about 500$ in food costs each year...more depending on the size of their garden. Not a fortune, by any means, but 500$ to a working-poor family goes a long way. Good nutrition is linked to cognitive ability. Not to mention the experience of eating something that was in photosynthesis only moments ago is completely different than surviving on ramen noodles.