Progress  Project Zoranger – Goal: $7,000  Kiva Team - $150 in microloans before end of the semester  Supporting Hungry Hokies with Fast-a-Thon

Coming Up  DATE AUCTION  Wednesday, 11/11 - Hillcrest Hall, 7:30 p.m.  Fast-a-Thon  Tuesday, 11/17 – GLC, 5:30 p.m.

How to help  FUNDRAISING  Bake & Sell  Monday, 11/16 – Zoranger Well Project Meeting  MARKETING  T-Shirts  Video  A-frames, table cards & Flyers  LETTERS  To your Congressperson  Holiday Oxfam donations

Eating and Shopping Smart  “We have the illusion of consumer freedom, but we’ve sacrificed our community life for the pleasure of purchasing lots of cheap stuff. Making and moving all that stuff can be so destructive: child labor in foreign lands, acid rain in the Northeast, depleted farmland, communities where the big economic engine is crystal meth. We often have the form of liberty but not the substance.” -Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Why eat responsibly?  Environment  Health  Human Rights

Environmental Costs  Water & Air Pollution  Erosion  Soil Depletion  Deforestation

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations  Produce as much meat with as little cost and in the shortest amount of time so that the most return can be gained.

 “Western” diseases  Exposure to chemicals  Food poisoning Health

 Slavery  Low pay  Dangerous conditions Human Rights

Chocolate Child Slavery  30% of children under age 15 in sub-Saharan Africa are child laborers.  200,000 children work in the Ivory Coast cocoa industry. Up to 12,000 are defined as victims of human trafficking and slavery  West Africa provides 80% of the world’s cocoa. Ivory Coast = 46%.  Cadbury, Hershey’s and Nestle all buy cocoa at commodities exchanges – Ivorian cocoa is mixed in.

Tomato Slavery in the U.S.  Immokalee Florida – Tomato capital of the U.S.  Up to 90% of the domestic tomatoes we eat come from Southern Florida.  Immigrant workers are underpaid, forced in to debt by growers, and abused.

Genetically Modified Organisms  Organisms that have been altered by combining DNA from various sources to create new genes or by splicing genetic information from one species into that of another. These organisms and their genes are patented by companies.

Organic Foods  Organic crops are typically grown without synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilizers, irradiation, or biotechnology.

Steps to ethical consumption…  KNOW WHAT YOU’RE BUYING!  Read labels  Avoid processed foods & foods from industrial farms  Buy Fair Trade  Eat local and in season  Blacksburg Farmers Market  Compromise  Avoid waste: Buy what you can eat

Labels

Grocery Guidelines  The most important thing is that you’re eating real food. The fewer ingredients, the better.  Health: Avoid foods high in High Fructose Corn Syrup, enriched flour, partially hydrogenated oils  Environment: Avoid foods containing palm oil and soy products. Choose sustainably raised meat.  Look at unit prices

Certifications

Places to patron  On campus  Farms & Fields – Owens Dining Hall  Homestead Creamery Ice Deet’s & West End  Off campus  EATS  Farmer’s Market  Kroger – Be sure to read

Places to patron  Online       If you can buy it locally, you should. Local = less packaging, more local community revenue

Further reading  Michael Pollan  The Omnivore’s Dilemma  The Botany of Desire  In Defense of Food  Silent Spring by Rachel Carson  Food Politics by Marion Nestle  Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver  Further watching: Food Inc. (2008)