A lot of people feel that their voices in our societies matter less and less. This leads to isolationist decisions, and whether I or you agree with them, there seems to be a general feeling of despair, loss and insignificance. This is only until we realise that we make political decisions every day in how we spend our money. It might not have the symbolic weight of ticking a box or voicing an opinion but it is the steady stream of influence that can really force change. If we all started to spend our money on local, seasonal, fair products the markets would have to follow and those products would have to become cheaper.
Take organic food as an example. For many, it is a douchey fad of the privileged few — while actually it should be the standard for all of us. Eating food filled with poisons, antibiotics, food that is rapidly hoisted for maximum gain and profit without a second of consideration for nutritional value and impact on our environment should not be. But most times this conversation comes up, people argue with the unaffordable cost of it and how it cannot be the basis for a sustainable lifestyle. Now, if everyone that could afford it even under these conditions would go ahead and afford it, their money would go to local organic farms. Therefore those farms could produce more and more and more big conventional farms would think about changing their way of growing food. With the sinking prices it would get accessible to more and more people and the cycle continues until change is in place. Granted, this might be overly simplistic but that does not change the underlying truth of it.
If we’d all think more about who gets our money when it leaves our pockets we could influence much more than by waiting until we get another chance to tick a box and the subsequent years of disappointment and anger.
Feel free to reach out to me if you want to discuss, I’d be glad to hear your opinions.
Michael
Thank you Dom for giving me a chance to write this and to Robert Egger for introducing me to this idea at CWA 2015.
Michael
Edinburgh, UK