Here's the thing - and this goes for anything , food, flowers, clothes, you get the ideašš»
If it seems too good to be true, it's because it is.Ā
If you're paying less, then something or someone else is paying more.Ā
But wait, Caylie what do you mean? Ā Because I'm paying less that means that someone else is paying for me? This doesn't really make sense.Ā
I hear what you're saying, and you're right
When I say that someone else is paying for you, I don't mean with money.Ā
Either the workers who are harvesting your food, picking your flowers or sewing your clothes are paying with their lives due to poor working conditions and/or not getting paid a survivable wageĀ (and I'm not talking minimum wage here, I'm talking survivable - where they are basically working their life away to make a VERY few bucks just to try and survive). Ā
OR
Let's for a second, take out the underpaid and very underprivileged workers, there's another component to this too.Ā Not only are those workers paying for our cheap food, flowers and clothes with their lives, if this is how those companies are treating humans, imagine how they're treating the environment and ecosystems.Ā
Yeah not great.
Kind of puts it all into perspective for you doesn't it?
All of this destruction so that those living in North America/first world countries, can have cheap ______ (insert whatever product you're thinking about here)
Obviously with inflation and how expensive everything is right now, it's almost impossible to not buy the cheaper things. Ā I get it, we're here too
It's also not about feeling guilty for having to buy from these companies. Governments need to do so much more to support their local economy and local businesses but honestly that's a convo for another day (and something I need to learn more about too).
The point is, that we need to start bridging the gab between where all of our 'stuff' comes from and realize that maybe, just maybe, we don't need it all.Ā
If we realized that humans literally die for avocados (not an exaggeration) and that the water needed for them to grow causes huge droughts in other areas nearby, do they really taste as good at the end of the day?Ā
Is that truly something we want to put our hard earned money towards?Ā
And sometimes the answer to that question will be a yes, and that's okay
It's about awareness
Local food, flowers and clothes cost more because people are paid a minimum wage (and hopefully a liveable one), because humans aren't being exploited and because the environment is typically at the top of our mind.
When you support local, not only are you keeping your money in our local economy and supporting local families (like us!), you're also preventing your money from supporting companies that make other humans and the environment pay for that price difference with their lives.
One of the biggest ways to protest and invoke change is with our dollars. Supporting more of the local businesses you are aligned with, will decrease the amount of money going to the companies that don't treat humans or our planet with kindness.
Just being here means that you're a part of the change - bridging that gap one blog post at a time!