How to get the informations you need?

From The Soft Protest Digest
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Evaluating the environmental and cultural resilience of your products.

ENVIRONMENT

By directly asking the producer:

  • Is the farm/factory/mill/slaughterhouse producing industrial/organic/bio-dynamic products[1].
  • Does the producer use electric powered greenhouses/tractors and machines running on gaz?
  • What kind of vegetable/fruit specie/ cattle breed[2] you are buying, and why?
  • The start and end of the season of the product.
  • Cattle/fish/seafood: what is the animal fed[3] with?
  • Cattle/fish/seafood: Is the animal breed outdoors or indoors?
  • Cattle/fish: Is the animal used for multiple purposes[4]?

By checking the label of your product:

  • Is your product labeled organic/bio-dynamic or any other network[5]?
  • Where does your product come from[6]?
  • If your product does not specify the origin[7] of the raw ingredient, head to the brand’s website or contact the producer.
  • Click on this link to learn more about how companies play around with the organic label and what to do instead.

By heading to the producers’s website:

  • Does the producer mention the origin of its raw ingredients?
  • Does the producer showcase the country it transforms its products in?
  • Is the producer clearly laying out its means of production?

By contacting the producer through:

  • Twitter (by tagging him)[8]
  • Facebook
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Post

CULTURE

  • Quickly check the yearly production of a product and its evolution in the past century on the website the Food and Agriculture association of the United Nation.
  • Check the wikipedia page of the product/recipe.
  • Check for biodiversity related data-bases[9] to learn about your product and its cultivation in your country.
  • Search for your product/recipe on the website of mainstream supermarkets in your country to see its recurrence.
  • Notes

    1. The producer may not have been granted the EU organic label, he could however be producing his products organically.
    2. ex: Is it an endangered specie?
    3. ex: Additional food supplements?
    4. ex: Is the cow used for its milk but also for its meat?
    5. Favor for instance: EU organic, Demeter, Agriculture Biologique, Fair trade, Bleu blanc Cœur, EKO
    6. Note: If your product is labeled “EU organic” you may be able to read the initials of its country of origin under the logo.
    7. Note: for instance, an olive oil could be pressed and have the NL organic stamp but its olives might be cultivated and imported from France.
    8. In most cases, you can expect a quick answer
    9. ex in the NL: http://www.floravannederland.nl/home/