Responsible Consumerism in our Food System - By Josh Singer - Rooting DC
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Responsible Consumerism in our
Food System
By
Josh Singer
Mac and Cheese Lesson
When we pay less for
something often times
other things pick up the
rest of the price like:
– Environment
– Worker rights
– Animal welfare
– Individual & Community
health
Ways Responsible Consumerism can Make
a Difference
• Boycott as part of a larger campaign
– UFW, CIW, Driscoll Boycott, Greenpeace palm
oil campaign, Coors discrimination
• Stand alone boycott
– Barilla LGBTQ support, GAP furs
• Create consumer demand
– Cage free
– Organic movement
– Fairtrade coffee
• For a list of successful responsible
consumerism
– theresponsibleconsumer.wordpress.com/histor
y-of-responsible-consumerism/
The Responsible Consumer The Responsible Consumer website includes information on: • Calendar of over 50 upcoming Direct Actions, Trainings, and Meetings • Over 100 products and companies to promote and boycott • Over a 100 national & local campaigns covering over 100 issues • Links to 100s of resources and organizations making a difference • Lists of credible & non credible news sources for all political views • Inspiration to keep on fighting • theresponsibleconsumer.org • www.facebook.com/theresponsibleconsumer1/
Overview
Health and Environment
Animal Cruelty
Workers Rights
Companies with Lots of Issues
Resources
Health and Environment
USDA Organic vs Certified Natural Grown (NCG)
• Both certifications have basically the same
standards.
– commit to not using synthetic herbicides,
pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones, or
genetically modified organisms, cage free and
limited pasture access
• NCG is much cheaper and less admin
• NCG has more of a local and small emphasis
• USDA focused more on medium/large farms
*Beware of the label “natural” which does not
guarantee natural or organic
Palm Oil
• Derived from the palm fruit
• Stays solid at room temps
• Used in packaged food, cosmetics, bath
and house products, bio diesel, etc.
• 85% of all palm oil globally produced in
Indonesia and Malaysia
• Majority of production causes:
– massive deforestation and habitat
degradation
• 300 football fields is clear every hour for palm
oil production
• Production kills about 6,000 orangutans a
year
• Slave and Child Labor abuse
– US Depart. Of Labor listed palm oil as being
one of the leaders in slave and child labor
• Indigenous community land destroyed
Sustainable Palm Oil
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
RSPO principles stipulate:
• No forests can be cleared containing:
– significant concentrations of biodiversity (e.g. endangered
species)
– fragile ecosystems
– or areas which are fundamental to meeting basic or
traditional cultural needs of local communities significantly
reduced use of pesticides and fires
• Fair treatment of workers according to local and
international labor rights standards
• The need to inform and consult with local
communities before the development of new
plantations on their land.
Palm Oil Scorecards
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sustainable palm oil
yearly scorecard
• Union of Concern Scientist: Fries, Face Wash, Forests:
Scoring America’s Top Brands on Their Palm Oil
Commitments
• Act for Wild Life: Sustainable Palm Oil Shopping List
Campaigns Fighting Unsustainable Palm Oil • Rainforest Action Network’s (RAN) Palm Oil Action Team – www.ran.org/join_the_palm_oil_action_team • The Orangutan Project – www.theorangutanproject.org • Forest and Finance – forestsandfinance.org • Actions – Request your grocery stock more sustainable palm oil products – Request your favorite products use sustainable palm oil – Letters, emails and social media
Bottle Water
Facts about bottle water
• Bottled water is not safer than tap water
– Much stronger standards for tap than bottle
– more than half of all bottled water comes from the tap.
• Bottled water is thousands of times more expensive than tap water
– Compare $0.002 per gallon for most tap water to a range of $0.89 to $8.26 per
gallon for bottled waters
• Bottled water hurts the environment
– After millions of barrels of oil are used to produce and ship plastic water bottles
around the world, 75% of them land in the garbage or our waterways instead of
the recycle bin.
• Plastic water bottles often contain numerous harmful chemicals
– cancer and hormone related chemicals
• Drinking water should be safe, accessible and affordable for all
– Water grabs
Watch: The Story of Stuff: The Story of Bottle WaterBottle Water Alternatives • Choose tap water • Buy reusable bottles • Start a local “Ban the Bottle Campaign” – www.banthebottle.net/ban-the-bottle-campaign/
Constellation Water Grab • Through shade government deals, Constellation Brands has been making a water grab from Mexicali Valley (Mexico), which is already experiencing a drought • Concerned farmers and local residents are protesting, often met with violent government repression
Sustainable Seafood
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood
Watch Guides
• National Consumer Guide
• Sushi Guide Marine Stewardship Council
• Local guides
www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-
recommendations/consumer-guides
The Seafood Watch App
www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-
recommendations/our-appAnimal Agriculture Environmental Impact
Responsible for:
• 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than
the combined exhaust from all transportation.
– Methane is 25-100 times more destructive than
CO2 on a 20 year time frame
• 55% of water consumed in the US is for
animal agriculture
• 50% of food grown in the world goes to
animal agriculture feed
– 3-20 times the amount of corn goes into one
pound of meat
• 91% of Amazon destruction
• Leading cause of species extinction, ocean
dead zones, water pollution, and habitat
destruction.
• 7 million pounds of excrement every minute
are produced by farm animals and not treated
finding its way into our rivers, drinking water
and homes
• Animal agriculture is considered by many to
be the single greatest polluting industry
www.cowspiracy.com/facts/Environmental Racism
“Environmental Racism is any environmental policy, practice, or directive that differentially
affects or disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups, or communities
based on race or color. Low income persons and people of color are exposed to greater
environmental risks than white or affluent communities” DR. Robert Bullard, Father of
Environment Justice
North Carolina Pig Farming Industry
• In North Carolina there are estimated 10 million pigs in the farming industry creating waste
equivalent to 100 Million humans.
• There are no septic systems for these farms. They are stored in giant lagoons that are
periodically emptied by spraying the sewage over fields.
• These lagoons often pollute groundwater and the sprays often drift to nearby poor minority
communities.
• Nearby residents complain that it’s literally raining hog waste when the sprays hit the right
wind.
• People living near these lagoons experience horrible smells daily and health problems such
as asthma, diarrhea, eye irritation, depression, blood pressure increases, neurological issues,
lung issues, cancer and other health problems. The local residents are left with little
recourse.Animal Cruelty
vsFactory Farm Animal Agriculture
• Over 90% of the 56 billion land animals slaughtered worldwide every year live in
unimaginably cruel conditions
• 450 billion animals are currently living in US factory farm in conditions such as:
– Confined to cages never seeing the outside or even turning around
– Body mutilations without anesthesia
– Physical abuse by overworked and under trained farm handlers
– Not always unconscious during butchering
– Lacking protection from extreme weather, especially during transportation
– Babies removed from mothers day of birth
– Over milking and over artificial impregnation of dairy animals
– High cases of infections, diseases and poor health, resulting in overuse of antibiotics
– Unhealthy growth due to growth hormones and concentrated animal feeding
operation (CAFO)
– Depression & TraumaAnimal Welfare Hierarchy
Plant Based Diets (Vegan)
• Only 100% humane option
• Finding Vegan Options
– Find local vegan restaurantsanywhere
• Happycow.net
– Find local vegan organizations, resources and recipes
• Humanedc.org
• Vegan Nutrition
– Hard to get
• Vitamin B12 – mushrooms and fortified foods like nutritional yeast
• Vitamin D – sun and vitamin supplements
– Eat a mixture of greens, grains, nuts and seeds for all the iron, calcium, and
complete proteins you need
– www.internationalvegan.org/nutrition
• Online Vegan Stores for every possible vegan product
– www.veganessentials.com
– www.veganstore.com
• Comprehensive List of Vegan Cloths
• theresponsibleconsumer.wordpress.com/responsible-consumerism/products-to-
promote/vegan-cloths/
*Cats/dogs need meat - look for humane pet food*Recovered Food
• 40% of all food produced ends up
in the dump
• Reduce food waste by
capturing/donating excess food
• Greater DC Food Recovery Orgs
and Resources
– Dcfoodrecovery.org
• Need help donating, receiving,
transporting food or want to
volunteer?
– DC’s first food runner program
• Foodrescue.usVegetarian & Reductarian Options
If you have to buy any meat, dairy or pet food please
choose the best options when possible
Most Humane
Local Farms w/ Higher Animal Welfare
Animal Welfare Certifications
Animal Welfare Labels
Least HumaneLocal Farms w/ Higher Animal Welfare Pasture raised/grass fed animals • Spend the majority of their lives, weather permitting, outside on pastures instead of cages and indoors. • Unlike 100% grass fed animals, pasture-raised animals may receive supplemental organic grainsLocal means less carbon foot print • Pigs like forested areas • Usually higher standards of animal welfare – If possible visit the farm
Visiting Local Farms When visiting ask about the following treatments: • Amount of Pasture Access • Antibiotics and Growth Hormones • Cruel Transportation and Slaughter • Over Milking • Use of Feedlots • Veal Production • Winter and Summer Shelter • Body Mutilations: – beak trimming, branding, dehorning, nose ringing, tail docking
Animal Welfare Certifications
No one regulates these labels. Only way to ensure Humane Treatment is with a Humane Certification
Look for items that are Certified Organic
and Pasture Raised/GrassfedFind Humane Meat, Dairy, and Pet Food
Options in Greater DC
Humane DC
• Over 100 local humane farms (Over 30 that deliver to your home!)
• Over 40 farmers markets with humane farm stands
• Over 40 grocery stores stocking humane products
• Over 30 restaurants sourcing from humane farms
Maps and Lists for
Home Delivery
Humane Farm CSA/Buyers Club Pickup Sites and Farmers Market Stands
Grocery Stores with Humane Farm Products
Restaurants with Humane Farm Products
Vegan Restaurants
Humanedc.org
www.facebook.com/humanedcASPCA Supermarket Request Letter
• If you don’t find certified products where you shop
ask for it.
• ASPCA Supermarket Request Letter
– www.aspca.org/sites/default/files/supermarket-request-
letter_020217_revised.pdf
• Share list of certified farms
– www.aspca.org/take-action/help-farm-animals/shop-
your-heart-grocery-list-guideWorkers Rights
Farm Worker Rights
History of US Agriculture “The industrial food system as we know it today is the child of the plantation system of agriculture. They are both built upon exploited labor, dispossession and exploitation of land from indigenous peoples, the destruction of rural culture and land, consolidation of power and land in the ruling classes, and the forced migration of peoples” Blain Snipstal, Black Dirt Farm
Overview of Farm Workers Today
• Excluded from many federal labor laws such as a right to unions, minimum wage, overtime
pay, workers comp, and against child labor
• 2-3 million farmworkers in the US
– 53% undocumented (without legal authorization)
– 25% are United States citizens
– 21% are lawful immigrants
• H-2a guest/temporary workers who cannot leave their job regardless of abuse
• Income: The average income of a farm worker: $15-17,499
• Dangerous work: one of the three most dangerous occupations in the United States.
• Abuse: farmworkers face a lot of harassment, sexual abuse and rape
• Pesticide risks: suffer from the highest rate of toxic chemical injuries and skin disorders of
any workers
• Health concerns: high incidences of heat stress, dermatitis, infestions, and tuberculosis.
• Life Expectancy: average for migrant worker 49 years (national average is 75 years)
• Poor health of children: high rates of pesticide exposure, malnutrition and dental disease
• Housing effects: housing conditions lead to increased prevalence of lead poisoning,
respiratory illnesses, ear infections and diarrhea.
• Limited insurance: Only ten percent of farmworkers report having employer-provided health
insurance
• Barriers to Healthcare: Lack of transportation, limited hours of clinic service, cost of health
care, limited or no interpreter service, frequent relocation in search of farm work, fear of
deportation, no sick leave
• Racism: Racism and attacks have increased with Trump rhetoricCurrent Farmworker Rights Campaigns
Wendy’s/Publix
• The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)
– Migrant tomato pickers in Florida who organized around poverty wages, human
rights abuses, child labor, wage theft, sexual assault, slavery and human
trafficking
• CIW’s Fair Food Program (FFP)
– Partnership among farmers, farmworkers, and retail food companies that
ensures humane wages and working conditions for the farm
• 2001-15 National boycott campaign got major retailers to sign on such as:
– Ahold, The Fresh Market, Walmart, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Trader Joe’s, Sodexo,
Aramark, Compass Group, Bon Appétit Management Company, Subway, Whole
Foods Market, Burger King, McDonalds, Yum! Brands (Taco Bell)
• Wendy’s and Publix has refused to sign
Campaigns to Follow
Local – dcfairfood.org
National – www.ciw-online.orgBen & Jerry’s (Resolved)
Migrant Justice
• Since 2010 Migrant Justice has been documenting worker abuses,
among the approximately 1500 migrant workers operating
Vermont Dairy Farms.
• These abuses range from low wages, wage theft, no worker
protections, long hours without overtime pay and unsafe work
environments.
• Many of these dairies supply milk for Ben & Jerry's
Milk with Dignity Code of Conduct Campaign
In 2014 Migrant Justice launched the Milk with Dignity Code of
Conduct campaign which attempted to get Vermont Dairy Farms to
sign on to an agreement that includes the following:
• Farmworker-Authored Code of Conduct
• Farmworker Education:
• Third Party Monitoring Body
• Economic relief
• Legally-binding Agreements
In June 2015 Ben and Jerry's agreed to work together to implement
the Milk with Dignity Program in the Ben & Jerry's Supply Chain but
to this day has still not officially signed any contract or made any
changes to their supply chain.Driscoll/Sakuma Brothers Farms Boycott
(Resolved)
• Sakuma Brothers Farms, a producer for
Driscoll Berries, refused to give 450
berry pickers a wage increase and to
improve conditions in the labor
camps.
• In 2013 the berry workers began a
national boycott against Sakuma and
later Driscoll.
• In 2016 Sakuma gave into the
demands and allowed the farm
workers to organize the first new farm-
worker union in the United States in a
quarter century called "Familias
Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ)”.
• In 2017 FUJ was able to negotiate
better wages ($15 an hour) and better
living conditions.International Campaigns
Thailand Shrimp
• The largest shrimp (also called prawns) exporting country
in the world is Thailand
• The AP Press and the Guardian have both done recent
investigations into the Thailand shrimping industry and
found regular use of slaves
• Shrimp and fish caught from slaves from Thailand and
other fish markets from Myanmar to Hawaii, can wind up
in the supply chains of American grocery stores,
restaurants and pet food.
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Slavery Risk Tool
– www.seafoodslaveryrisk.org
Ethical Alternatives
• Avoid Shrimp from Thailand
• Look for certification by the Aquaculture Stewardship
Council which has developed standards that take into
account environmental and social conditions
• Green Peace “Grocery Store Scorecard”
– Evaluates retailers for seafood sustainability and human rights
• seafood.greenpeaceusa.org/grocery-store-scorecard/
• Domestic shrimp
– Alaska, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and North CarolinaSlave Labor in Brazil Coffee
• Brazilian Coffee
– Nescafé, Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, Coffee-mate and
Senseo
• Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of coffee,
accounting for about one-third of the global market.
• Brazilian coffee workers often face debt bondage,
non-existent work contracts, exposure to deadly
pesticides, lack of protective equipment, and
accommodation without doors, mattresses or
drinking water
Ethical Coffee Options
• The Good Trade: 14 Fair Trade Coffee Brands Worth
Waking Up For
– www.thegoodtrade.com/features/fair-trade-coffee-
brandsIndustries with Child Labor
Ivory Coast and Ghana Cocoa/Chocolate
• More than 70% of the world’s cocoa is grown in the region
• 2013–14 report found that 2.1 million children are working as child labor
– Documentary: Darkside of Chocolate
• Nestle, Hershey, Mars, Kraft, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Godiva, Fowler’s
Madagascar Vanilla
• 80% of vanilla sold on global market
Unsustainable Palm Oil
Ethical Chocolate Options
• Slave Free Chocolate: List of Ethical Chocolate Companies
• Food Empowerment Project: Chocolate List
• The Good Trade: Your Guide To Fair Trade Chocolate
Ethical Vanilla Options
• Online - Vanilla Company, Nielsen-Massey Vanilla
• Ben & Jerry’s Icecream
• Whole Foods – Look for “Fair Trade Logos”Free Trade Bananas
• Five free trade companies control
about 80% of the conventional
banana trade. (Chiquita, Dole, Del
Monte, Fyffes, Bonita).
• These companies often:
– Abuse banana plantation workers
– Pay workers very poorly
– Violently repress any attempt to
unionize
– Accused of child labor and sexual
harassment
– Using large volumes of chemicals
harmful to the environment, workers
and consumers
– History of Banana Republics
• Dole has a fair trade line with mixed
reviewsFair Trade Bananas
Many family own banana
plantations and cooperatives are
working together to create a new
type of banana market where:
– Banana workers get paid fair wages
– Have worker protections
– Workers not exposed to harsh
chemicals
– Nearly half of all fair trade is
organic
– Must dispose of waste properly
– Often work in cooperatives that
give workers more control over
prices and their lives.
– “Fair Trade Premium” in price to
funds things like schools, health
clinics and farm improvements.Look for Other Fair Trade Products
Bananas Nuts and Oilseeds
Chocolate Packaged Food
Clothing Rice
Coffee Seafood
Flowers and Plants Sports Balls
Fruits and Vegetables Sugar
Herbs and Spices Tea
Home Furnishing Vanilla
Honey Wine
Good Non Fairtrade CertsFarmer Rights Certification Programs
Fair Food Program (CIW) • The Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Fair Food Program is a partnership among farmers, farmworkers, and retail food companies that ensures humane wages and working conditions for farm workers • Retail companies have committed through this program to boycott any farm that abuses workers
Fair Trade Certified • Fair Trade Certified products have social, environmental and economic standards to promote safe, healthy working conditions, protect the environment, enable transparency, and empower communities to build strong, thriving businesses. • Fair Trade Certified products have a Fair trade Premium which is an additional sum of money which goes into a communal fund for workers and farmers to use to invest back into their community on things like education, healthcare, sustainable practices, improving their business or building vital infrastructure such as roads and bridges for their community.
Fair is Life • In response to limited certification options for fair trade an independent certification program was created in 2005 to assess fair trade producers and operators • Uses a criteria that includes no forced labour, freedom of association, no illegal form of child labour (ILO conventions), equal opportunities and treatment, adequate health and safety systems, fair salaries and working conditions, activities which observe environmental protection (water conservation, management of ecosystems, energy and waste materials), fair trade-compliant relations throughout the production chain.
Food Justice Certified • The Food Justice Certified label is based on high-bar social justice standards for farms, processors and retailers, including every link in the food chain from seed to table. • These standards address collective bargaining for farmworkers, fair pricing for farmers, land rights for indigenous peoples and other issues pivotal to achieving parity in our food system. • Whose certified?www.agriculturaljusticepr oject.org/en/learn- more/?pane=purchase
Equitable Food Initiative • The Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) certification are standards for produce farms for improved working conditions, pesticide management, and food safety • Whose certified? – www.equitablefood.org/certifiedfarms
Good Food Purchasing Program • Although not a certification program the Good Food Purchasing Program connects public institutions with many food certification programs to create a transparent and equitable food system built on five core values: local economies, health, valued workforce, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. • The Center for Good Food Purchasing provides a comprehensive set of tools, technical support, and verification system to assist institutions in meeting their Program goals and commitments.
Restaurant Workers
Restaurant Workers
11 million food workers
Poverty Wages
• restaurant workers occupy 7 out of 10 of the lowest-paid occupations
reported by the Bureau of Labor
• 3 times more likely to fall below poverty line than any other worker
– Farmworkers are also in the 10 lowest paid list
Lack of Benefits
• Almost 9 out of 10 restaurant workers lack paid sick days (87.7 percent) and
health insurance from their employer (89.7 percent)
Harassment
• 80% of women have experienced some form of sexual harassment
– higher rates at tipped subminimum wage restaurants
– Must relay on customer, not employer, for their incomeTipped Sub-Minimum Wage
• 43 states use a tipped sub-minimum wage
– History is exploitative
– First used in US for Freed slaves hired without pay by restaurants and
Pullman rail operators
• Ban for awhile until first minimum-wage law in 1938 allowed states to set a
lower wage for tipped workers
• In 1966 Congress adopts a federal tipped minimum wage that increased in
tandem at 50% with the regular minimum wage
• In 1996, former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, head of the National
Restaurant Association (NRA), convinced Congress to decouple the two wages.
– The tipped minimum has been stuck at $2.13 ever since.
• 20 states use the federal tipped sub-minimum wage of $2.13
• 22 states are between $2.13-$5.00, including DC ($3.33)
• Median wage including tips is around $9
• 7 states guarantee a equal single minimum wage to all workers,
before tips
• Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, WashingtonThe Other NRA
(National Restaurant Association)
• Issues NRA fights
– Minimum wage increases
– Sick day benefits
– Public health policy measures like
• nutritional menu labeling requirements
• limitations on the marketing of junk food to children
• regulation of sodium, sugar, and trans-fats in processed foods
– Wage theft protections
• In 1996 Herman Cain, head of the NRA, convinced Congress
to seaparte food worker wage from minimum wage
– The tipped minimum has been stuck at $2.13 ever since.Restaurant Opportunity Center (ROC)
Campaigns
• One Fair Wage Campaign
– Fight for $15 will raised DC minimum wage to $15 an
hour by 2020
• but tip employees will only get $5.55 an hour
– ballot initiative 77 (2018) – same minimum wage raise
– onefairwage.com
• Trump’s Tip Theft
– President Trump's Department of Labor is undoing an
Obama-era regulation that stopped employers from
collecting and redistributing workers' tips however
they wanted, legalizing wage theft
– Labor department got caught hiding studies that show
this rule change would allow for billions of dollars to
be stolen from restaurant workers
• Saru Jayaraman - Forked: A New Standard for
American DiningFood Production Companies
• Chobani Yogurt
– Gave 10% of stocks to his employees
– Founder and Owner Hamdi Ulukaya
employs about 300 refugees
– Mr. Ulukaya started a foundation to
help refugees.
– His advocacy has made him a focus of
racist attacks.
• Newman’s Own
– all profits and royalties are donated to
charityMulti Abusers
Nestle
– Nestle is the world’s largest bottled water company
– Water grabs on public water around the world
– Nestle promotes baby formula in developing countries
• “Globally, breastfeeding has the potential to prevent about 800,000
deaths among children under five each year if all children 0–23
months were optimally breastfed.” (WHO)
• International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN)
– Nestle has child labor and adult slavery in their productionTyson
• Big Supporter of unsustainable palm oil
• One of the world’s largest producers of chicken, beef, and pork,
entirely raised & processed in industrial Agriculture.
• Check out
– Documentary, “Under Contract”
– The Food Revolution Network: How Tyson’s Cheap Food Negatively
Impacts People, Animals, and the PlanetResources
Good Food Purchasing Programs
• The Good Food Purchasing Program is designed to do
for the food system what LEED certification did for
energy efficiency in buildings.
• The Program provides a metric based, flexible
framework that encourages large institutions to
direct their buying power toward five core values:
– local economies
– environmental sustainability
– valued workforce
– animal welfare
– Nutrition
goodfoodpurchasing.orgResponsible Consumer Apps
• Buycott
An app that helps you start / support campaigns while scanning barcodes to learn about
product histories to make responsible choices.
• BuyPartisan
Ensure your money isn’t going to causes you oppose by using this app to scan product bar
codes to see what causes the company is donating to.
• Cruelty Cutter
An app that scans cosmetics and household product barcodes to let you know which products
were tested on animals. Results can be shared with on social media and your concerns or
praises can be shared with the company.
• Done Good
Free Chrome Extension that when you’re shopping for products online if there is an ethical
and sustainable company that has what you’re searching for you’ll receive an alert.
• Free2Work
Phone App that spots child labor in products while you shop
• Good Guide
Search, browse or scan safe and healthy consumer product goods based on scientific ratings
• The Seafood Watch App
An app to research and get the latest recommendations for seafood and sushi.
• Think Dirty
An app to research toxic ingredients in beauty productsBecome a Responsible Consumer 1. Pledge to, when possible, only buy products that support your values 2. Survey which stores and online retailers you often use, that offer products meeting your values 3. Contact the companies and managers that aren’t offering these products and ask if they will start 4. Circulate a petition repeating your request for any store(s) refusing. Share the petition with the store(s) as you increase signatures on a consistent basis (once a week or every hundred signatures, etc) 5. Create a local campaign for any stores still refusing. – Letter writing campaign – Phone call campaign – Social Media campaigns, – twitter hashtags and Facebook Causes – Petition Campaign – Events – rallies, socials, cookouts, happy hours, etc. – Boycott Campaign
Further Questions or Volunteer Responsible Consumer • Theresponsibleconsumer.org • www.facebook.com/theresponsibleconsumer1 • theresponsibleconsumer1@gmail.com Humane DC • Humanedc.org • www.facebook.com/humanedc • humanedc1@gmail.com DPR Urban Garden Division • dpr.dc.gov/page/adult-and-senior-environmental-programs • Joshua.singer@dc.gov • www.facebook.com/dprurbangardens/
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