Walking home from work, through the business park and down the long winding road that takes me onto the high street - I watch my town unfold, revealing the season in so many ways. Crowds of people swirling around the town centre like a whirlpool. A sea of Prozac smiles slowly dissolving into a blind panic, with bulging bags in their hands and wallets overspilling with receipts. Britain is now the only country in Europe with more credit cards than people, that scares me, we are outnumbered.

The buses carry adverts proudly stating how late the shopping centres will be open, using phrases like “feed your addiction” and “too much fashion? theres no such thing” “theres no stopping the shopping” and ironically “I shop therefore I am”. There is a giant santa climbing up the walls of The Harlequin Centre as if trying to escape the chaos, my neighbours have illuminated their windows and doors with fairy lights and tinsel, Christmas ringtones have started to appear on collegues phones. The company I work for is giving us our December wage on the 17th which is great until you realise you have to make it last until the end of January. The financial burden of Christmas is overwhelming.

The sense of immediacy is awesome. The pressure is immense.

Nature is much more gracious. With her it is a slow turning. Autumn turns to Winter and I can go from kicking the leaves along the pavement to making snow angels in my garden without spending a penny or having to navigate my way through vast swathes of stressed out shoppers.

Christmas is an opportunity to show the colour of your love not the colour of your money. Dont spend what you dont have.

I’m not trying to point out the obvious, the materialistic woes of the culture we live in, are I’m sure made apparent to you on a daily basis. But as we try to duck and dive the consumer pressures of living in the western world, we get weary and rationalize away our personal ethics. Its easy to let things slip.

Earlier this week I was enthusiastically checking out a fairtrade basket of tea’s and coffee’s online as a possible present for my folks and upon wandering into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee I realised I had run out. So without batting an eyelid I took the easiest option and nipped down to my local shop and bought an acme brand of coffee, happily trudged back to the flat and made a hot steaming cuppa, sat back down at the computer and realised what an idiot I was.

Had I been willing to walk ten minutes further down the road to the nearest supermarket I could have bought a fairtrade brand that would have in turn ensured a fair and just wage was payed to those who harvested the cocoa. But on the otherhand I was supporting my local shopkeeper by not buying from a supermarket which of course can operate on far lower profit margins hence enabling them to blow smaller independant shops out of the water.

There are more supermarkets stocking fairtrade products than independant shops. It is a trend that worries me.

What a quandry!! Do I support my local shops or do I buy fairtrade?

To see a list of UK fairtrade retailers go here;

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/suppliers_retailers.htm

To see a list of ethical U.S traders go here;

http://www.greenpages.org/

It is important that we encourage and support our local shops in stocking fair and ethical produce, we can make that difference, as consumers we have more power then we realize.

Supermarkets to all intents and purposes are a threat to individuality - and it is a sly deed at that, the vast majority of society isn't paid an awful lot so cheap food and cheap clothes is understandably enticing.

Many of the supermarkets in the UK sold the last Harry Potter book at a loss because it attracted so many customers that in turn bought other products during their visit - Walmart refused to stock a Sheryl Crow album because one of her lyrics mentioned the store in and unappreciated light (the fact that it sells guns to kids) - the list is endless....

But just take a minute to think about the impact this kind of business will have on our lives - as well as considering the impact it may have on others and on the environment. Like the song says " poor folk don't have a chance unless they organise"

Fight the power people! Do not let it be this way! Don't let the wool be pulled over your eyes.

The Trade Justice momvement is something everybody should be aware of. The UK campaign has over 9 million members already, ranging from trade unions to consumer groups. http://www.tjm.org.uk/about.shtml

The US campaign involves more than than 10,000 churches, temples, and mosques.
http://www.tradejusticeusa.org/resources/fairtrade.htm

I think one of the biggest challenges we face is to make our lives reflect our principles. These initiatives help us to do it.

Make sure you make your own decisions, be warey of promotion and persuasion. Be warey of your own apathy, that is the lesson I am slowly learning.

I very often find myself seperating one decision from another - I live a fractured and broken existence - compartmentalising, putting everything in its own niche. I dont want to be a jigsaw, I want to be committed and consistent. The only way I will have any chance of living the life I want to lead is with your help!

All Material © 2004 by: Catherine Cray/Folk It Up, All Rights Reserved