Power to the people!

Consumer power has a long history, dating back at least to the boycott of sugar by people who sought to abolish the slave trade in the 1800s. But the idea of the 'consumer' really took shape in the 1900s, with the increasing acceptance of the idea that 'consumers' can affect change through the ways they spend their money. Now-a-days, buying something as simple as a banana involves a range of complicated choices - its no longer just a question of how much you want to spend or how many you want to buy, but whether you want ordinary, Fair trade or organic bananas. Consumers must must make decisions regarding genetically Modified (GM) food, food miles (how far the food has travelled), animal welfare, intensified farming, the chemicals used, antibiotic, hormone filled milk, etc. Shopping has become an emotionally charged avenue for expressing our ethical and moral views, not only about what we eat, but about the ways of the world in general. And you know what? The industries listen, they have to if they want to survive, and they will yield to the demand of the consumer.

Therefore, armed with our shopping basket, we must use the power that we have as a consumer– buy only those things which have been produced by ethically sound practises that do not cost the earth, but instead protect it, together with all the living beings that inhabit this still beautiful planet. In this way we can turn the tide or at least slow it down to acceptable levels.

People! We do have the power!

The difference

Episode 2: A day at Wenda's Farm

The second in a series of video blogs, depicting life on an Ahimsa (cruelty-free) farm

Cow protection-an economic necessity

Cow protection is an economic necessity as well as solution. The fact is,we are able to get everything that we need to live a natural, land-based life from the cows and bulls. The cow provides all the fertilizer one could need for growing crops. If processed first in a bio gas plant, it also provides the energy the whole community needs for heating and cooking. The bulls work the land as well as turning tread mills to grind the grains. The energy from turning the treadmill can be harnessed to produce electricity. Hence to protect the cow, one protects more than just a group of animals –one maintains the whole of society and lives a completely peaceful and self sufficient lifestyle.
Dead cows mean nothing less than dead humans. The two Great Wars of the previous century are ample proof of this assertion. Pythagoras already said that as long as man kills cows and other animals for food, he will have battlefields in which he is killed himself (think about it). The scientists say that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction-what goes around, comes around, right? Therefore, by protecting the cows, we are able to avert not only the financial and economical problems, but also such tragedies as war and famine, and thus benifit the whole of society.