I was reading a book today and it posed a fantastic question……….. how does your money vibrate?  For many years I have struggled with how to make a difference in the world, after all I am only me, nothing I do at a personal level seems to have a huge effect in the scheme of things.

Then I was reading a book by Megan Kimble called unprocessed and she introduced an amazing and so obvious answer to my question.  She asked her self how her money vibrates or what effect does her spending power have?

Does it vibrate through the community at a local grass roots level or does it go straight in to the pocket of a multi-national company with a base in some distant country.

Who do I support with every dollar I spend?  If I profess to care about the environment that I live in and want to protect the livelihood of local farmers and artists in my region how do I practically go about doing that.  What a easy and practical concept, just by spending my money more wisely and being a conscious investor I can change the way my dollars vibrate in the world.  I can choice which path my investments take, direct to the corporate world or direct to a local supplier in my area.  This is a powerful choice that can make a difference, especially to the farmers and artists in my local area.

I am confounded by how simple this concept and how it addresses issues that I have been wrestling with for a while and now seem ridiculously simple.

Issue One – How to effectively support local producers

I don’t support local producers by going to Woolworths or Coles once a week, I have known this for a while ever since they started the price war and I questioned who was really paying for milk at $1 a litre or pumpkin at .29c a kg.  This was the end of my shopping for fruit, veg and meat at large supermarkets.  I shop at the local butchers and only buy locally sourced organic meat, I shop at farmers markets for fruit and veg that is in season and source what I can’t get locally from smaller producers online.  This has meant a change in the way we eat, if some-thing is not seasonal we don’t eat it or I have to freeze or preserve large quantities when they are in season.  I am loving it and can’t wait till tomato season so I can start making chutney and sauce.  I also found this great recipe for garlic jam that I found and its going to be a great Christmas stocking filler for family and friends……. I should also know who uses it and who doesn’t!!

I do understand that people will say they can’t afford to shop at farmers markets / local butchers etc but I think that is were we need to re-educate ourselves to use cheaper cuts of meat and return to making preserves etc.  It also brings me to my second issue we don’t pay enough for products!!

Issue Two – paying a premium for a product

I have an ethical issue with eating mass produced meat and dairy I don’t think it is healthy for me as a person or my family and I also don’t think that paying $5.00kg for beef or chicken even if it is only mince shows respect for a sentient being that has been slaughtered for our benefit.  I think that meat should be a special treat and should be expensive.  I also think the price of milk should reflect the total cost of a litre of milk, including the cost to the environment that the dairy industry imposes.  I think we should value food and the huge impact that it has on our wellbeing, food is something that can add huge value to our lives.  The farmers who spend time producing food, especially organic and older varieties with higher levels of nutrients are critical to ensuring that our diets don’t become full of chemicals, preservatives and totally processed foods.  I should clarify that I am a try hard earth mother, a perfect day for me involves vast mountains of cheap in season veg and as many preserving jars as I can find.  While I do think we should pay a premium, I think that buying in season and in bulk and processing yourself can offset the premium price.

Feeling the need to prove to myself that I can use all parts of an animal my brother and I are attending a workshop on how to ‘bone out’ a whole pig!!!!  Then we are going to get one from a local free range pig farm and divide it amongst ourselves………. I hope that we can manage!!!!!  We have visions of making salami, hams and bacon, equally I have visions of us getting bored halfway through or ending up with these random pieces that don’t seem to make sense, I wonder if we can hire an industrial mincing machine?  I’ll update you later post workshop……..

Issue three – The amount of political influence major food companies wield

I am uncomfortable with the amount of political influence major food supply companies have, Woolworths, Coles, Coke and McDonalds all have huge political power….. they influence research on what is healthy and what is not, they tell farmers what they are going to pay for their product and are capable of bankrupting companies just by refusing to stock products if they don’t like the company representative.  In addition to all this they tell us what is healthy for us and whats not through funding research and foundation; currently we are told sugar is not dangerous its natural, fat is dangerous even though its natural, we need to  eat more processed or modified foods to be healthy and get rid of the natural fats!!!  Clearly this education and research is not done for our benefit because the world is getting increasingly unhealthy the more we eat processed foods like are found on supermarket shelves.  I can totally buy out of their influence by not spending money or limiting the amount of money that I give to them, imagine if only 10% of the population decided not to shop at Coles and switched to local farmers markets!!!!