Ethical Co-op

New collection points, 5 minutes silence, and the GM surge

New Collection Points

There are quite a few new collection points this week. We’ve added collection points in Wellington and Paarl, as well as Rosebank and Kenilworth in the city. Remember that you can change your default collection point by clicking Change details after you log in.

The girl who silenced the world for 5 min

So many of us place limits on ourselves, and think we can’t make much, or any, difference. This week’s video features a 13-year old girl who did, and still is, making a difference. View it here.

As she herself said, we are what we do, and not what we say. The video was shot in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, and she has continued her environmental work since.

Sunnydale Naturals

One of our goals is to close the gap between customer and farmer. Ideally, everyone should know exactly where their food comes from, who grows it, and how it is grown. A recent new fresh supplier is Sunnydale Naturals, situated in the Noordhoek valley on a 1 acre smallholding.

She’s been growing herbs and veggies intermittently since she was in school, and is a third-generation gardener, now with the help of her 3 1/2 year old daughter. She has developed a passion for wild-life gardening, natural and organic gardening and permaculture, as well as eco-crafts.

Her land has never received chemicals because it has never been farmed, and she doesn’t use an intensive compost and feed programme, believing that overfeeding is as much a pollutant as chemicals, as it ruins our groundwater, wetlands, streams and seas. She doesn’t spray at all, ever, even with organic controls.

Under her tenure, the small plot in the Noordhoek valley is turning from a wasteland of kikuyu & alien trees into a small ecosystem, with a burgeoning bird population.

Her quantities are small, but look out for them when they are available.

The GM surge continues

The biotech companies are continuing their lobbying attempts to get the world to accept genetically-modified food. While evidence mounts that organic farming is far better for developing countries (see here and here), the Monsanto’s of the world continue their efforts to enrich their shareholders back home.

True to form, in Europe, still a barrier to greater adoption of genetically-modified crops, GM lobbyists are going straight to the top. The head of the European commission is strongly pro-GM, and recently held a series of closed-door meetings, aiming at counteracting the “vested interests” of environmentalists. Since the public, and even environmental ministers, are not always ‘reliable’, the new goal is to get GM in through the back door, with heads of state involved.

It’s an interesting tactic. While the vested interests are clearly the financial beneficiaries tied to the biotech companies, and environmentalists are usually volunteers, throwing the ‘vested interest’ charge back at them is an effective way of freeing themselves of the label.

New products

There are a whole lot of new products on the site this week, many coming from discoveries and contacts made at the Natural and Organic Exhibition. I’ll be profiling some of them in the future, but for now, browse away. Remember that you can always click on the product for more information.

And a reminder again for our new customers in Cape Town. We deliver once a week, usually a Thursday, and orders close on Monday afternoon, shortly before two. You can always make any changes to your order by logging in up until closing time, and making the changes you want.

To order, go to www.ethical.org.za.

Have a great week,
the Co-op team

Posted under: Newsletter