To buy or to make...It is your choice, even if they tell you it isn't

Hello Everyone,

I have been meaning to provide information on meats and material items in a local and organic sort of way but I got a bit side tracked in researching how to become more independent from the grips of major cooperations.

It is funny how life pulls you in directions and before you know it you immersed in information that you never realized you were following in the first place. I believe it is a higher collective conscience letting you know that you are on the right path and it guides you in the right direction if you are open to it. That is how I feel this week in sharing this topic with you.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I was listening to the radio about a women who runs the website: http://www.cheapskates.com.au she reckons she saved around $100 000 in the last 15-20years just by making things from scratch, on her website she has a recipe for washing powder that cost less than $10 and lasts for over six months!

After this little incident of what I thought of listening to something interesting on the radio but nothing really significant, my husband and I managed to watch a couple of documentaries, Food Inc and Thrive, which we have been told would be in our interest and stumbled across a french film 99 Francs on SBS on Friday. You may have already seen them (if you haven't you should) but all three helped tie into my train of thoughts.

Anyway, I am not going into details about each idea helper just some quick facts from them. Both Food Inc and Thrive mention how there are only a handful of companies in charge of this globalization happening before us and how they are controlling most of the food, energy and even money we have. The movie 99 Francs mentions about how much advertising we endeavour in our lives and how much money is wasted in getting us to buy their product, so much in fact at the end of the film they say something like 10% of the money put into advertising can supply food to the starving.

Long path to thought but I wanted to share my pathway of thinking of why do we succumb to buying a lot of our items pre made? When did we not have enough time in our busy lives to make soap, peanut butter, bake bread...and yet have time for watching TV, spending countless hours behind our computer. It is by choice, right? I feel advertising always sell things by making it sound like you have choice. Which you do to a certain degree, right?

Our culture, has come to believe that making things from scratch is difficult if not impossible with all the ingredients that we would need and time, it is just not practical. We have also come to believe that watching TV and going the computer is a relaxing activity, something you think of as leisure is curling up on the couch watching a movie...a TV series...checking email...shopping online for better deals and so on. Why? Since when?

Again, I know I like a good documentary or movie that is how I got here with this topic in the first place. But all the time? Everyday? Maybe not so necessary. These large cooperations supply a great portion of the food you buy, use money in your bank accounts to make them more money and invest billions of dollars into making you believe that you needed to buy new shoes when you already have at least two pairs that serve the same purpose, and that making your own products from scratch is too much work after a long day and not fun to do. It is all about selling and selling well being in life for them, eat this to be healthier, wear these they are more comfortable, use this to make things easier...

I for one, have too many pairs of shoes, it is embarrassing to think about it and add up the dollars and think where I could of helped out someone better, bought something more important or just saved more money. The thing that ticks me off most is being suckered into buying something and then being let down by its performance and then buying it again but more expensive thinking that it must of been a quality thing. huh...hard to think about. This will come up in my first product review once I get time to write it...

I am not trying to give everyone the guilts, I am just trying to lift the veil and make you more aware of the grip these cooperations have on us in every direction.

For example, Facebook on the right hand corner of my screen let me know about the great deal on baby items and that one of my friend's "like" this. What? FB is aware that I have a baby? Intelligent advertising, no? I bet my wonderful single friends are not receiving advertising about baby product sales and maybe advertising on deals for a tropical vacation. I wonder if I put in my status that I had a cold and needed to lose a couple of kilos that the advertising on the right would provide me with cold and flu remedies (pharmaceutical of course) and weight loss solutions?

Interesting food for thought...Making your own products actually sounds like fun and you know exactly what you put in it, how much you put in it and it feels good when you finished it. There is nothing more satisfying then seeing the result of your own work. I want to try and make my own soap and peanut butter, two things I would never think I could do. How about you? What do you make on your own or would like trying to make on your own? How much money can you save for the hour or so investment of time into making something on your own? Let me know, I would love to hear about it.

That is it for today, hope you enjoyed...

Stay Healthy, Stay Green, Be Happy.

You say tomato, I say from where?

So here is a thought...why local? why fair-trade? why organic? Which one of these should come first?

How we live today effects tomorrow. I am sure everyone has heard that statement once or twice before. Our world keeps getting smaller, everything is more accessible to more and more people everyday.

Being from Canada, a colder country than the one I live in now, I realized that I cannot remember a time when I could not have gotten tomatoes all year round. Globalization has made that possible but is it necessary?

Do we really need to have all varieties of fruits and vegetables at our disposal all year long? And is it even healthy or natural for us to consume off-season products that have been picked before they ripened and then transported thousands of kilometres.

This is just the start of problems when you really think about how you got your tomato. First of all, if it is not organic then there is a good chance it has been exposed to its healthy dose of pesticides and herbicides, the seed itself may have been altered or selected to be resilient to pests.

Next thought...who cared for it? who picked it? who cared for the people who cared for and picked your tomato? did it come from Joe down the road? A farmer in your province or state? A farmer in your country? A country away? A few countries away?

I am not saying I have never bought a tomato from Mexico or that I have never bought one in the winter...I have. I am just saying that it is important to be aware of where food and products come from.

These days, I do however try and buy produce that is local, organic and in season. In season and local, especially because it is cheaper and it makes sense to eat hearty root vegetables in the winter with soups that make you feel warm and salads with tomatoes and lettuce in summer as it is refreshing. Besides at the end of the day shouldn't food be one of the more important items in the budget?

Another thought, have you gone to the organic section and decided that it was too expensive? What was the item? Was it all of the organic items? Or items that would not grow in your country, or not at that time of the year?

It does truly get complicated, right now I am lucky that Australia can grow most of the fruit and vegetables I look for locally but Canada can be a bit tricky to buy an avocado, olives or a mango local? What do you do? Only buy things that Canada can grow? Buy fair-trade so you have chance that workers are being paid and treated fairly?

What is your opinion? I would love to hear it!

This entry is mainly on produce but what about meats and material items? Follow this blog to read upcoming topics...

Savvy Shopper

I thought the first thing I would share is how we saved over a thousand dollars when shopping for the baby essentials.

It is something you can do worldwide you just have to be a bit savvy when shopping. I started researching very early on to see what products were out there, what was the overall reviews on the products I was interested in purchasing and what was there average retail price.

Then I began hunting...on gumtree (like Criagslist for us Canadians). I would get an idea of which products I would like and then just search every couple of days until what I wanted came up for a great price.

For example we got our pram for less than half the price, it came with all the extras and it was still made in New Zealand where the newer models are now made in China. Plus it looked brand new when I gave it a little wash.

Such simple ways to get what you want, save money and help reduce waste by reusing perfectly good items. Feels great every time you get a deal.

Does anyone have any success stories they would like to share? I would love to hear about them.

That is all for now, hope to hear from you soon :)

Stay well. Stay Green. Be Happy.

Introduction

This blog will be based on following our path from corporate to farm-business. It will also include information on eco-alternative choices for everyday use.

As we approach the new level of consciousness I would like to share views and ideas in hope to help others share theirs. Everyone has a purpose and a path in life and it is up to us to take the chances to find it.