Contributed by: Rachel Pafe
But this is a story of how consumers, corporations, and a State government all agreed that neither chickens nor the people who eat them should be ingesting poison and are making change happen.
On the pH scale, 7 is the number that is perfectly balanced between being acidic or basic. And we aim to be balanced in everything we do at p.h. balanced films, most especially in the information we provide to you. We recognize the issues we address are complex – so we aim to give you a balanced view, based on reliable sources. What can YOU then do? Continue the Power of 7 by sharing what you read with 7 people… and if they each spread the word to another 7 people, who in turn share with another 7, before long, we’ll all see real change – and it starts with YOU.
Bell Biv Devoe Would Agree: That Chicken is Poison (and if I were you I’d take precaution!)5/25/2012 (If you were born after 1985 and/or don’t get this reference, please click this link.) Contributed by: Rachel Pafe Just imagine…. A heaping plate stacked full of your favorite chicken dish (please bear with the vegetarian writer; I just asked my dad if gravy is only for turkeys). Back to that overflowing mountain of chicken. Just the way you like it: oozing gravy, spices, and arsenic. Wait, what was that last ingredient? Yes, you read that right. But this is a story of how consumers, corporations, and a State government all agreed that neither chickens nor the people who eat them should be ingesting poison and are making change happen.
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Contributed by: Rachel Pafe Park Florist, nestled in the heart ofTakoma Park, is truly a treat to visit. After ogling the vibrant displays adorning the shop, I sat down with the manager, Jeanne, and discussedissues of sustainability in relation to consumer demand. Jeanne carefully explained that consumer requests stem (no pun intended) from the desire to buy from an environmentally friendly source. Many equate sustainability with local farms, but according to Jeanne, the inherent problem with this is that homegrown supply is limited. So I admit, I probably had the easiest gig of the three of us. All I had to do was pick up the phone or, if I didn’t want to actually talk to another human being, I could order online and electronically chat with a rep if I had questions. How convenient! But, as mom taught us, sometimes the best choice isn’t the easiest choice. I started by calling FTD, holding the promotional card the company had sent me in the mail, and asked about sending a “Loving Thoughts Bouquet” to mi madre. Just like the one pictured on that card, right? (Not the same as the one above, btw.) Well, turns out that that bouquet isn’t available in her zip code. That seems odd. After all, the rep had just told me that the company uses flowers shipped from its headquarters in Illinois. And I know that FedEx delivers to my hometown. Huh. (And get this – when it’s sent by FedEx, it doesn’t arrive assembled! Just a vase separate from the flowers, which Mom gets to arrange herself. Because Mom hasn’t done enough already….) “So who grows these flowers?” I ask. “Specialty growers,” I’m told. “How delightfully descriptive,” I think to myself, “He might as well have said ‘magical elves’.” So I continue, “Where are they grown?” There are a LOT of people who want to make sure you don’t forget your mama this Mother’s Day. If your inbox looked anything like mine, you got offers from airline companies, telling you that you could earn 30 miles for every $1 you spend with FTD. (Mom does want me to come home more often.) Or from Amazon.com offering a “local deals” if you call 1-800-Flowers. Hmm, being smart with money? Mom might approve. Even Groupon got in on the “don’t forget your mother” action: But would Mom approve of what these options support? “Support?” you ask. “What would buying flowers do other than send warm fuzzies on Mother’s Day?” To answer that, we refer you to our earlier blog detailing the incredibly bad conditions that workers in the flower industry endure in flower farms around the world. In short, think sexual abuse and toxic chemicals, and that’s just for starters. Now I know the world isn’t always fair, but my mom is one of the main reasons I believe that it should be, so we wanted to be sure that weren’t supporting anything ugly in buying our moms beautiful flowers – so we rolled up our sleeves and did some research.
One of us went to a local flower farm to see where flowers are grown. One of us went to alocal flower shop, to see how flowers reach a more urban customer. And then one of us went the “traditional” route and called two major, national floral delivery services to see if they offered any good options. (And by “good” we mean free of human rights violations andenvironmentally friendly.) What did we find? In short: eco-labeling; a fairy paradise; and inconsistency. Regular readers of this blog know that we usually focus on human rights issues that YOU as an individual consumer can impact. But today, we wanted to share with you how big consumers have a big impact, too. And by “big” we don’t mean consumers who have been eating too much fast food… No, think “big” as in entire COUNTRIES. What happens when companies supply a country with products that could maybe be used to help people – BUT can also be used to seriously harm people? To answer this question, we turn to Cindy Cohn and Trevor Timm at the Electronic Frontier Foundation to share a blog they wrote when the Supreme Court was about to hear the Kiobel case – for the first time. (Missed our blog on that? Click here.) And without further ado, here’s the scoop from Cindy and Trevor on companies, surveillance and repressive regimes: It’s Friday! And you know what that means…it’s quote time. Time to share with you someone else’s words about human rights and why companies should respect ‘em.
This quote comes from the Second Circuit (the federal court that is one rung on the ladder above a trial court and one rung below the Supreme Court). Yup, the same court in New York that later decided that crazy Kiobel case (more on that here), but in 2000, when they were looking at a law that Congress passed to give people who were tortured a cause of action (meaning, the right to go to court and sue the defendant who hurt them), here’s what they said: |
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