What is your primary concerns when shopping?

[lovedy]

Are you concerned with issues of justice, fairness, the environment and issues of human and animal rights?

Is there any recent shopping experience of yours that illustrate your concerns?

Why do you think these concerns can be effected by what you've done?

[nicola_red]

As a vegan I think about animal rights issues in almost everything I buy - and the effect is that I sleep better at night knowing I haven't hurt animals with my purchases.  Of course some things will always slip through the net, so to speak, but it's always on my mind when shopping.

[lovedy]

Thank you for sharing, Nicola_red.

You mentioned "some things will always slip through the net"... could you give me examples? Or are other obstacles which affect your ability to shop as you would like to?

[nicola_red]

Good examples of things that 'slip through the net' are animal-derived glues (eg on shoes), bits of leather/wool/silk as trimming on clothes where you don't expect it, and unlisted animal derivatives in alcoholic drinks (eg many drinks are filtered using a substance derived from fish).  It's impossible to live a 100% animal-free life so my philosophy is just to do the best you can and be content with that.  There are tons of obstacles to cruelty-free shopping though - by and large, supermarkets and other large chains of shops aren't concerned with being cruelty-free.  Veganism is not particularly popular or fashionable and so animal products are sneaking into more and more things - for example, I've noticed a marked rise in the amount of brands of crisps containing lactose, a milk sugar.  I don't expect everything to be vegan as I understand it's a minority choice, but I would like to see shops taking a little more care with their products and labelling.

[shaneystar]

I have just found out in the newspaper that Hellmans Mayo is made with eggs from battery hens.Won't be buying that again.
Although not a vegetarian I always support my local butcher and farmers market.We live fairly rurally so our local market always has local produce.I don't want to buy fruit and veg that has been flown thousands of miles around the world.I always buy Fair trade coffee and bananas though.And try not to buy stuff (cosmetics etc) that has been tested on animals.Never buy anything with the word Nestle on the label.Nicola is right about labelling though .Sometimes you don't know what you are buying.

[clairelb]

I try as much as possible to buy the products that I know haven't been tested on animal, but as already highlighted, this is very difficult.  I am glad I live close to a Co-Op store because as far as I am aware, they are one of the only stores who have a wide range of homeware goods eg washing up liquid etc that don't test on animals and don't cost a fortune.  Ecover is a great brand, but very expensive for everyday goods.

The problem also can be that whilst you know a particular product isn't tested on animals, it doesn't always mean the company doesn't have a policy of testing on animals.  It's difficult to find out about companies - the PETA website has a list, but it is predominantly US based.  If I hear of a company whose overall policy isn't great, then I do try to avoid. 

Food wise, I'm looking forward to the Dispatches programme on Thursday because I think it's important to know what goes on with our food.  I'd love to say I eat Fairtrade, organic etc, but find I'm priced out of the market a lot of the time.

Does my choice affect any practices.  No idea, but consumer power is the only power I can readily take part in.

[Oneeyedvic]

Just wanted to say that I am afraid I don't particularly care about any of the issues mentioned above. I doubt very much that anything will cahnge whether I was to become Vegan or anything else.

Incidentally, Clairelb, you avoid companies that are immoral, but are happy to go onto the Peta website - a society that kills animals then tosses them in garbage cans :
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20050722-08533 8-5284r.htm
and gives thousands of dollars every year to 'domestic terrorism' - people who will firebomb buildings!

[clairelb]

Oneeyedvic – I have always known PETA aren’t as ethically moral as they make out. However, in my defence, I have been unable to find a list of companies who don’t test on animals anywhere else.  The only time I have even been on the site is to find such a list (and the list is from another site which is found through the PETA links); I have never directly shown support for the group.

But doesn’t this all go to show how difficult it is to get the true story on such issues?