Filed in archive
Social Enterprise
by Miche on October 25, 2007
The simple answer is, this is my life. I use all natural organic personal care products, eat organic food as much as possible, boycott socially irresponsible companies, and regularly involve myself in activism of one form or another.
My goal in life is to better society by helping those who want to be helped become who they want to be. The catch, however, is they must want it in their own logic - not their parents wanting it for them, or the typical consumerist zombie brainwashing telling them they want it.
Every single day I watch international news broadcasts and read from as many diverse sources as I can on as broad of a topic range as possible. But here's the key - I take very little at face value. I fact check everything that I intend on practicing and preaching, despite the fact my daily habits already provide a good deal of second opinions.
And this is not something I do as an aspiring reporter - but as a responsible consumer.
Take for instance the next article on organic milk. I first became aware of Aurora via a newsletter subscription from Health Freedom USA. The entire mention of Aurora in that newsletter is as follows (unabridged, simply reformatted for legibility):
"Organic Consumers Sue Aurora Dairy in 27 States for Violating Organic Standards. Acting on behalf of organic food consumers in 27 states, class action lawsuits are being filed this week in St. Louis and Denver against one of the nation's largest organic dairies.
The suits charge Aurora Diary Corporation, based in Boulder, Colorado, with allegations of consumer fraud, negligence, and unjust enrichment concerning the sale of organic milk by the company.
This past April, Aurora officials received a notice from the USDA detailing multiple and "willful" violations of federal organic law that were found by the federal investigators, specifically not providing mandatory pasture access and bringing non-organic cows onto their massive feedlots.
Unfortunately the USDA gave Aurora what the Organic Consumers Association considers a "slap on the wrist" rather than taking away the corporation's USDA Organic certification."
In an email that was literally 11 pages long, I wasn't satisfied with such a small amount of information. So I did some of my own research, and found that the situation was far more questionable than even the obviously biased newsletter managed to convey.
Having discovered all the facts, and that Aurora provides organic milk for Wal-Mart and other major store chains, I will no longer purchase organic milk from a major chain when I don't have access to a whole foods store or local farmer.
Nevertheless, I think it is quite helpful that I am accountable to you through this venue. To me, corporate social responsibility is not in the hands of the corporation, but in the hands of the people. It is your duty to be a responsible consumer more so than it is the corporation's duty to be a responsible citizen.
Permalink: Where do I get my leads?
Tags:
csr
organic
responsibility
consumer
social
social+enterprise
november+2007
social+entrepreneurs
Trackback: http://publish.creative-weblogging.com/publish/mt-tb.pl/98706
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