A Journey Into Ethical Economics

written by Amanda Neely*

We are all consumers. We have to eat, drink, and be clothed. We can't stop consuming unless we want to go totally off the grid and survive off our own homestead (if that's what you want to do, more power to you!).

I was exposed to Fair Trade in college and have spent all my adult years trying to figure out how to make more and more of my consumption ethical.  It's been hard.  I'm not totally there yet.  But it's been totally worth it.

My journey started in college.  I actually wanted to major in economics when I arrived my first year.  I had gone to econ camp in high school and loved what I learned about supply and demand and such.  But when I met upperclassmen who were majoring in econ, I realized that path wasn't for me.  I cared a lot about people and wanted to make decisions in my life based on how they affect real people, not based on logic, science or economic theory.  In case you're wondering, I ended up studying psychology and minoring in music but took as many social science classes as I could. 

There is no single moment I can point to when I started thinking about ethical economics but several smaller circumstances that added up (you'll see this pattern again before we're done).

• My university served fair trade coffee in our cafeterias so my first cups of coffee to stay awake when my first finals approached were fair trade.  
• One of my professors added Fast Food Nation to our syllabus and I learned about how inhumanely animals and humans are treated in our fast food system.  
• I took a class my last quarter called "Love in the Time of Capitalism" and learned how our evolving economics have transformed our relationships - marriages, families, friendships, all of them.  

In short, during college, my mind and my emotions were awakened to how our economic system works and its flaws. 

Then, I took that giant leap into the real world.  Like most recent college grads, I didn't have a lot of money so I was faced with the challenge of continuing my ethical economics journey without being able to spend a lot for products that actually paid people well and took care of the planet. 

In the almost 10 years that have passed since, I learned quite a bit about what I can do.  Here are two examples:

1. I might not be able to buy fair labor clothing all the time but I can always afford thrift stores.  Thrift stores are not adding to the slavery system that produces many of the clothes we wear.  Plus, there's an added environmental impact of reusing materials so that no new materials need to be produced. 
2. I couldn't necessarily afford to buy all my food locally and certified organic but switched my milk and eggs.  When I'm able, I buy other items locally and certified organic but these two products have been any easy switch and are probably making a significant contribution to my overall health, not to mention the health of farmers, cattle, chickens, and our ecosystem. 

Most significantly, this journey has led me to start a coffee shop that promotes ethical economics.  We go beyond fair trade to offer direct trade coffee, tea, and chocolate.  Our baker uses local, non-GMO ingredients.  We have a gift shop with fair trade artisan products from around the world.  Plus, we improve our entire product sourcing as we're able.

I've also learned some related principles. 

First, it is not just about switching my purchasing habits to more ethical products but also about buying less.  For example, it's virtually impossible to produce smart phones and other technology without using slave labor.  There's a particular mineral needed, 90% of which comes from slavery conditions.  So, I have learned to only upgrade my technology as needed.  I don't need the latest and greatest cell phone.  I can wait until my current phone breaks before purchasing something new.  It's not that big of a sacrifice and it actually helps me feel better about my actions.

I've also learned that I can't just spread this awareness or consciousness about the impact of consumption on the planet and the people who live here.  Along with rising consciousness, I need to help people take action. When people are aware of issues but don't have something tangible to do to correct that injustice, I have noticed that they become jaded and cynical to the issue.  They lose their sense of empathy and compassion for those most affected by injustice.  Yet, I believe and have witnessed that when people have something tangible to do, however small, we do it and trust that we are making a difference.

Trust is a big related principle too.  This whole concept of ethical economics takes a lot of trust.  I need to trust that my small actions aren't just a drip in a huge bucket that never gets full.  I need to trust that others are also dripping into this same bucket by their small actions and thereby making it much more likely that our positive dripping will amount to a bucket full of positivity that overflows with positive results to the entire world.  Just like those small circumstances in college made a difference in my life, I trust that my small positive actions, along with others around the world doing similar things, positively transform the future.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere.  I would spin that into a positive, ethical economics anywhere add up to change the economic system everywhere.

*This is an opinion piece and only reflects the current views of the writer.  It does not reflect the views of Daystar School, Daystar Center, Overflow Coffee Bar, their employees, or their leadership.  The writer acknowledges that her views might change over time and welcomes you to communicate your thoughts about ethical economics to her so that her views are enriched by your own.

Why "The Quiet Workshop" Relates to Drinking Ethical Coffee

In partnership with Daystar Center, we're hosting The Quiet Workshop on Saturday, May 30, 2015.  The idea is that we spend the majority of our lives being stressed and busy.  What if we took 8 hours on 1 day to begin to address our stress and busyness?  Could we step out of the traffic, see how it feels, and perhaps incorporate some quiet into our every day lives?

What does this have to do with drinking coffee that's good for the farmers and the planet?

EVERYTHING.

• Both have to do with purposeful living (one of Overflow's values).  
• Both have to do with actually thinking about why we do what we do - from where we spend our money to how we spend our time.  
• Both are about the habits we build INTO our lives to help build UP our lives (and the lives of others).

If this seems up your alley, we invite you to check out the full details.  Register early for a $20 discount and to reserve your seat before it fills up.  Space is limited to 40 people so there's lots of value to the workshop.

Nichols Farm CSA is coming back to Overflow!

We're excited to welcome back Nichols Farm for the 2015 season!

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  It's about relationship.  You get local, fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables while building a relationship with a local farmer (in this case the Nichols family).  

Nichols has made some improvements for the coming season:

• All members also receive a 20% discount on any farmers market purchases.
• Expanding partnership with Local Thyme to include more weekly recipes and tips to best utilize your CSA share. 
• Now offering a half share that is every other week for those who thought it was just too much produce.  

This 3rd one is probably the most exciting for people who were hesitant to sign up previously.

Find out more and sign up at this link.

Full disclosure: Overflow is not getting paid to host this CSA. We might receive a box of fruits and veggies to split among the staff. People who come to pick up their food might make a purchase from Overflow. We're not sure what might happen. Primarily, we're doing this because it's the right thing to do.

A Story of a Lady Who Is Embodying Overflow's Mission

If you've been around us or at Overflow in the past 18 months, and especially the last 6, you might recognize this lady. 

This woman's name is Mary Ayres.  She is Amanda's mom.  She's had a rough journey over the past 3 years.  She retired 3½ years ago.  Then, in February 2012 (shortly before Overflow's 1st birthday), she had a stroke that has left her with aphasia, an acquired language disorder caused by damage to the brain, in her case the stroke. Aphasia makes Mary have extreme difficulty remembering words and she has lost most of her ability to speak, read, and write.  She is still very intelligent but has issues with communicating - both sharing her thoughts and understanding what others are trying to share. 

Due to Mary's stroke, she and Virgil, Amanda's dad, moved to Chicago in August 2013.  They made the move so that Amanda could pay their bills, file their taxes, communicate with their doctors, and an increasing number of things they couldn't do for themselves as they got older.

Then the unexpected happened.  In June of last year (2014), Mary lost her husband of 34 years.  Now we are totally responsible for caring for Mary for the 20 plus years of life she has left to enjoy.  And how, you ask, are we helping her get the most out of life when she is disabled by aphasia???

This is where Overflow and Mary intersect!  Instead of staying home alone doing practically nothing while we work long hours, Mary spends 4 days a week at Overflow (that leaves 2 days to be home alone, and 1 family day where none of us work).

Since Mary is hanging out, she has started to build relationships with some of Overflow's customers. 

• On Monday mornings, a group of women about the same age as her have invited her to be part of their women's group.  She can't say much but she really likes to feel included and involved in their lives.  
• On Thursdays, a group of parents from the school in our building have invited Mary to join their prayer group.  They pray together for the kids, teachers, staff, parents, and anything else that comes to mind.  
• On Saturdays, Mary also joined a Zumba class and helps greet the women as they arrive.  They all love to see her smiling face at 8am on a Saturday morning.  They've started to call her the Zumba mascot.  

When she first moved to Chicago, we were the only people she knew.  Now she has a community of people and her need to feel like she belongs is met. Moreover, she helps meet other people's need to belong.  She's embodying Overflow's practice of community building!

But wait, there's more...

Mary loves chocolate and tea.  If she could, that's all she'd eat and drink.  But, as we've shared with her about child labor in the chocolate industry (we dare you to Google "child labor and chocolate" and see what you discover), she's reduced how much chocolate she eats.  She understands that children should be in school, not in the cocoa field working from sun-up to sundown.  So she's more careful in her chocolate consumption.  Plus, she's started to consume fair trade tea as a way to make sure tea growers receive a fair wage.  We can't get her to drink coffee (yet) but she's definitely thinking more and more about the stories behind the things she buys.  She's embodying Overflow's practice of ethical economics!

This is just one story of one person and the impact we have as a community.  It just happens to be the one closest to us.  We see what's happening with Mary and we think, "Yes!  We really are changing the world one life at a time."

Support our mission to change the world one cup at a time through building community and ethical economics!  

Visit our online store to shop or give a gift. 

Celebrate Earth Day at Overflow!

April 22, 2014 (Earth Day!)
7:00 - 9:00pm
Film Screening and Discussion
RSVP here.

Film Description

A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle For a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement - grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change. From halting dams in the Grand Canyon to battling 20,000 tons of toxic waste at Love Canal; from Greenpeace saving the whales to Chico Mendes and the rubbertappers saving the Amazon; from climate change to the promise of transforming our civilization... the film tells vivid stories about people fighting - and succeeding - against enormous odds.

The film is divided into five "acts".

Act 1 focuses on the conservation movement of the `60s, David Brower and the Sierra Club's battle to halt dams in the Grand Canyon. Narrated by Robert Redford.

Act 2 looks at the new environmental movement of the `70s with its emphasis on pollution, focusing on the battle led by Lois Gibbs over Love Canal. Narrated by Ashley Judd.

Act 3 is about alternative ecology strands and the main story is Greenpeace's campaign to save the whales. Narrated by Van Jones.

Act 4 explores global resource issues and crises of the `80s, focusing on the struggle to save the Amazon led by Chico Mendes and the rubber tappers. Narrated by Isabel Allende.

Act 5 concerns climate change. Narrated by Meryl Streep.

Run Time: 101 minutes.  Discussion will end around 9pm.

Watch the trailer at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc40_9tVUao.

"Rarely do environmental-themed films come with the ambitious scope of 'A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet'which aims at nothing less than the history of environmentalism itself."  -Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

Consider Faith - Purposeful Living Idea 13 of 52

I have a couple assumptions in writing this post: (1) we are whole persons not divided into parts and (2) in addition to our body, minds, emotions, and relationships, we are defined by our souls or spirits.

If these 2 assumptions are true, then I would venture to guess that when we think about living purposeful lives, we need to think about our spiritual side as part of our whole being.    Thus “Purposeful Living Idea 13” is “Consider faith.”

Personally, I have found great strength from my faith to keep me going in helping others.  It’s like I get filled up through faith experiences so that I either am more content with what I have or I have more to then share more with others.  I can authentically say my faith has saved me from compassion fatigue (pun intended).

Perhaps not everyone experiences faith this way or wouldn’t know where to begin to find a place to experience faith in this way.  Thus, I’m leading a group (along with my husband Brandon) to help people experience faith and its benefits.  You can read more about what this looks like here:

www.overflowfaithcommunity.org.  If this seems like something that would interest you, please feel free to pop in one Sunday at 11am down the hall from Overflow Coffee Bar (1550 S. State Street).

In the meantime or if you’re reading this from far away from Chicago, I’d invite you to consider faith.  If you are considering faith for the first time, ask yourself, “How could faith help me live life more purposefully?” If you’re considering faith in a new way, ask yourself, “How is my faith helping me live life more purposefully?”  I’d invite you to share your answers by commenting on this post.  I’d love to hear your stories.

Consider faith.  Improve your life.  Change the world.

Shop Informed – Purposeful Living Idea 12 of 52

We want to share a tool we use all the time to inform our purchasing decisions.  It’s called Free 2 Work and it’s a website (www.free2work.org) and a smart phone app (Free2Work).

Free2Work provides consumers with information on how products relate to modern-day slavery. Through the site you can learn how your favorite brands are working to address forced and child labor.  You can additionally access in-depth information about industry issues through our industry pages and news feeds, and you can learn more about trafficking and supply chains through our blog posts.

Here are 2 practical things to try:

1. Think of your favorite brand (clothing, chocolate, electronics, etc.).  Then go to Free 2 Work and learn how the brand relates to trafficking and other labor abuses.  Depending on what you’ve learn, shop with a smile or contact your brand and let them know you’re thinking twice their status as your favorite brand.
2. The next time you’re at the shoe store or in the candy aisle or planning a weekend of shopping, check out Free 2 Work.  Look at the various brands you’re thinking of purchasing and how they stack up against each other.  Make your informed choices accordingly.

Happy learning and shopping!  Comment and share your results.  What's your favorite brand and how did they stack up?  How has your shopping changed since encountering this tool?

Informed shopping --> improved consumer satisfaction and positive world change.

Pay Cash at Local Businesses - Purposeful Living Idea 11 of 52

Many people use debit/credit cards for very good reasons.  Credit cards are convenient and good ones give you cash back.  If you lose your cash or your cash gets stolen, you’re out of luck.

What many people don’t realize is that it’s common practice for companies to add enough into the sticker price of the items they sell to cover the costs of their customers using debit/credit cards.  This means that even customers who pay cash pay more for their items.  You, as the customer, pay the higher price.

This means that you can make a difference for your favorite small, local businesses by paying cash when you visit them.  You’ll save the merchant credit card processing fees and that can help make their business flourish.  It could even help them keep their prices down so that their able to better compete with large corporations.

Of course, as a small, local business owner, I’m biased.  But I can vouch for the fact that our business would fail if every customer paid via credit card.  I’m not exaggerating.

Pay cash.  Keep your favorite local shop in business.  Change the world.

Recreate! – Purposeful Living Idea 10 of 52

It’s summer so what better topic than recreation?  Perhaps I can help you see the idea of recreation in a fresh way as I recently have myself.

I recently came across the fact that the word “recreate” literally is a combination of “re” and “create.”  This got me to thinking and I’ve come to the realization that true recreation is going to be something that gives me new life, energy, and encouragement.  Recreation should refresh, enliven and re-create me into a better version of myself.   These qualities are what make recreation different from entertainment or socializing (at least for introverts like me).  There’s even this idea of working from rest rather than resting from work… holy Toledo!

For me, what this means practically is that 

1. Recreation is something I need to help me keep positive and sane.
2. Recreation could very well look like taking a nap if that’s what I need.
3. There’s much more for a recovering workaholic like me to learn if I’m going to take care of myself to keep at this world change thing for years to come.

My baby step and one I’d invite you to take as well:  Find 3 times this week to recreate.  Whether it be for 1 hour each or 3 hours each.  Let’s get out and enjoy the summer in Chicago or take a nap, whichever we need most.

Re-create yourself.  Change the world.

Watch this Documentary– Purposeful Living Idea 9 of 52

Here's my weekly suggestion for purposeful living - Take 43 minutes and 44 seconds and watch this documentary: http://thelinemovie.com.  

For this week, I’m not going to post a possible action step.  Instead, I’m asking you to post and share – What are you doing to help end poverty in the United States?  What would you like to do more?  Any thoughts and ideas inspired by the film?

Watch Documentaries – Purposeful Living Idea 8 of 52

When it comes to being inspired to live life more purposefully, few things really help us get into complex issues the same way documentary films can.  Documentary films tell stories and show us images in ways that news, articles, and the interwebs cannot.  Documentaries connect us to other humans in ways that enable us to empathize with their journeys.  They can be even more inspiring when they present multiple viewpoints some of which we may not share or haven never considered.  Of course, not all documentaries are good.  Some are very one-sided but the best are unusual, persuasive, and present multiple viewpoints of the same issue. 

If you’ve had bad experiences with documentaries in the past, try to find one about a topic that interests you.  Alternatively, watch a documentary with a group of people and plan to have a discussion about the film afterward.  Perhaps you’ll enjoy the discussion more than the actual documentary.  I think that’s okay… the ends justify the means in this case.

I’ll post tomorrow about a chance to see a documentary with lots of personal stories.

Watch documentaries.  Better your life.  Change the world.

Love the “Other” – Purposeful Living Idea 7 of 52

“We operate with the assumption that giving people new ideas changes people.  It doesn’t.  Believing ideas is, in fact, a way of not having to change in any significant way.  Especially if you can argue about them, ideas become defenses. … You do not have to substantially change to think some new ideas.  You always have to change to love and forgive ordinary people.”  - Richard Rohr

I propose that if we want to change the world, the place to start isn’t with trying to convince others our ideas are right.  The place to start is within oneself and finding the courage to love and forgive others, especially those with differing ideas.  As we find the courage to love and forgive, perhaps we’ll stimulate others to do the same and the world will become a more loving, forgiving place.

My friend Steve was talking about something similar yesterday.  He said something along these lines: “When someone asks me a question about a divisive topic, I’ll ask them, ‘Can we still be friends even if we disagree about ethical issues?’ Depending on their answer I know how far our conversation will go.”

I’ve been thinking about this a lot since.  How good of friends am I to people who think totally different than I do – especially about ethical concerns?  Do I really love them?  Do I forgive them from my perspective even if they don’t seek forgiveness given their ethical differences?  Perhaps I could experience better life by being a better friend to others and receiving better friendships in return.  How would this work?

Love those with differing ideas.  Better your life.  Change the world.

Eat Less Meat! – Purposeful Living Idea 6 of 52

This week I was inspired by the Alliance for a Greener South Loop to consider eating less meat.  I was surprised to learn that there is no such think as ecologically sustainable meat.  All meat - including local, organic, and free-range - takes a large toll on the environment.  I’m going to join in with the “Meatless Mondays in May” campaign and replace some of the meat I eat with plant-based foods.  It’s not about being vegetarian or vegan, just about consuming less animals.  The more of us who eat less meat (in May and beyond), the bigger difference we can make for our planet.  I’m fairly certain my body will thank me for it too. 

If you’d like some more inspiration, here are some claims some major groups have made about the impact of eating less meat.

Al Gore’s Live Earth organization reports that “If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save: 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months and 70 million gallons of gas, enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare.”

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, “if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.”

One more from a major individual: “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” - Albert Einstein

Eat less meat.  Better your life.  Change the world.