Break the Chains this holiday season: buy local, organic, and fair made.The time has come to Break the Chains! The Organic Consumers Association is launching the next stage of our most ambitious campaign to date, Breaking the Chains: Buy Local, Organic, and Fair Made. Between November 13 and December 31 the OCA OCA oculocutaneous albinism. will mobilize from Alaska to Argentina, working with a critical mass of global citizens to regain control of our communities, our food and commerce, and our future. Dozens of leading activists, organizations and networks have already endorsed OCA's International Call to Action. Multinational retail & food chains are colonizing our communities and our minds, North & South, East & West, rural and urban, killing off small businesses, exploiting workers and farmers, devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. the environment, and sowing Not to be confused with sewing. Sowing is the process of planting seeds. Hand sowing is the process of casting handfuls of seed over prepared ground: broadcasting. Usually, a drag or harrow is employed to incorporate the seed into the soil. a toxic culture of cheap goods and social unaccountability un·ac·count·a·ble adj. 1. Impossible to account for; inexplicable: unaccountable absences. 2. . Unless we stop this Wal-Martization of our communities, and pollution of our minds, we can say goodbye to Fair Trade, family farms, independent businesses, workers rights, and environmental sustainability. From Manhattan to Mexico, from China to Chile, farmers, consumers, and independent businesses ate resisting the invasion of Wal-Mart and the Corporate Chain stores and building grassroots power through local, green, and just commerce. The answer to Wal-Martization and so-called "Free Trade" is ethical consumer Ethical Consumer is a UK magazine that also publishes a lot of its key information for free on its corresponding website [It is in its own words "an alternative consumer organisation looking at the social and environmental records of the companies behind the brand names". purchasing and political action--building and supporting local and community based producers and businesses through solidarity, collective purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. , and mutual aid. Fair Trade, not Free Trade, must become the global norm, with organic and sustainable production leading the way. Local and community control over essential goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. provides the only solid foundation for economic democracy, a sustainable environment, and public health. For November 25-December 31, 2005, the busiest shopping season of the year, we call on ethically responsible people across the world to "Break the Chains" of self-destructive consumerism consumerism Movement or policies aimed at regulating the products, services, methods, and standards of manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers in the interests of the buyer. by boycotting Wal-Mart and other national and international chain stores, fastfood restaurants, corporate coffeehouses, and products bearing the logos of the multinational Brand Name Bullies. Hoping to generate the largest impact possible, during the main shopping season of the year, we call upon the global grassroots to Buy Local, Buy Organic and Buy Fair Trade/Fair Made. Help us make Buy Local Month 2005 the beginning of the end for Wal-Mart and the Corporate Chains. Please join us as we step up the pace to re-localize and green a just global economy. To find independently owned businesses near you and sign the Breaking the Chains pledge go to www.organicconsumers.org/btc.htm. Consumers of the world unite! We have nothing to lose but our chains! Ryan Zinn is the National Campaign Coordinator for the Organic Consumers Association. Visit www.organicconsumers.org for more information |
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