chiquita bananas--I just called and complained

[JitterbugPerfume]

I called my local Meijers superstore ,and had a long conversation with the manager of the store about coffee, bananas and free trade .He was real receptive to my suggestions , and said he would do some research because he was unaware of "fair trade".

I referred him to Democracy now at Link TV

He invited me to a face to face conversation, and as soon as I get ALL of my ducks in a row I intend to take him up on it .

Mostly it made me feel really GOOD


What did you do lately that made you feel that good?

edited to change free trade to fair trade ---BAD typo

[ret5hd]

1. If i told you, my post would be deleted.

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. LOL

:evilgrin: :spank:

[notadmblnd]

2. just yesterday, I bought fair trade coffee

and it's really good too! Grown in Peru by a group of women.

[JitterbugPerfume]

4. I love that about you!

where did you get it?

[notadmblnd]

5. Trader Joes

it's called Cafe Femenino. It looks like it is available online too.

[JitterbugPerfume]

8. I LOVE Trader Joe's

My sister used to live in (close to ) Indianapolis , the closest Trader Jose to where I live (3 hr away) and every time I went to visit her I would stock up , but I never got coffee!

She recently married (at age68) and moved to Britain.

Damn the luck!

[jojo54]

6. About a month ago when I wrote Comcast cable about my

shitty, shitty, shitty service. It's not the kind of fair trade that you're discussing, but to me it is.....fair trade = I pay you money, you give me the service that I expect.

I posted my letter here at DU and I got on the greatest for the first time, so I'm recommending your post too. Give 'em hell Jitterbug!

[JitterbugPerfume]

7. thanks JoJo!

Fair is fair . If you pay for a service , you deserve fair treatment.


That goes for ANY service.

[CrispyQ]

9. Good for you, JP! We should all do this.

The multinationals won't listen, but usually your local businesses will.

I wrote to a locally owned health food store about adding environmental cleaning products from another locally owned business. They have a nice selection of environmental products, but the companies are out of state. I encouraged them to look into the local company, saying that it would be nice if one local company would support another local company. They called me & said they are looking into adding the local companies products. I will give them another couple of months & then write again if they haven't done so.

I also write to companies about excessive packaging. Fantastic Foods use to offer instant soup cups in a paper board container with a paper lid that was glued on. They have now added a paperboard wrap around the original container. I stopped buying them & let them know why. Sadly, I usually only get a generic response to this issue -- thanks for writing, blah, blah, blah.

Also, if you keep your receipts, include copies of those showing that you do indeed buy their products. Sometimes it's not enough to vote with just your wallet, you must also make the companies aware of it!

[JitterbugPerfume]

10. excessive packaging is a PAIN for us old'uns

Thankfully I do not yet have arthritis , but my sis does and she has a terrible time with all of that plastic crap.


Think globaly, act locally!

Thanks for the tip about keeping recipts ! That is a good one.:loveya:

[Highway61]

11. Good Post

I am heading to the store now and will do just that...And Comcast????
Don't get me started...we live in a sevice society WITHOUT any customer service...

[JitterbugPerfume]

12. Thanks Highway 61

Are you a Dylan fan?

[Highway61]

15. Big time

can ya tell :)

[JitterbugPerfume]

17. I suspected as much!

ME TOO I love Bob to pieces:)

[Parche]

13. Whats Wrong With Bananas?

:rofl: :hi:

[JitterbugPerfume]

14. BAD Parche!

:hi: :spank:

[Breeze54]

16. Hmmm.. what did I do to make me feel better?

:blush:

Do you really want to know?

Oh...you mean in corporate America and fighting 'those' demons??

I have a newly installed energy saving dishwasher and I changed

a light bulb to an energy efficient one and it's pink too! :P

I don't shop except for food so, no big deals there. Oh wait, I

bought 'fair trade' coffee (?) and I didn't buy anything at the Gap!

Do those count? :shrug:

[orleans]

19. PINK? was it a cfl?? there are energy efficiency bulbs that come in pink???

where did you get it? (please tell)

[Breeze54]

22. My son got it at his job...

I think it's cfl. It's only 40 watts. to help my eyes
and is rarely used anyway, as it's beside my bed. ;)

On edit:

ALL my light bulbs are CFL!!

In every lamp and every light fixture, so fret not!

I also recycle and have been doing so since the '70's! ;)

Waste not, want not. I'm the child of Depression Era parents

and that was a running theme in our house growing up.

[JitterbugPerfume]

20. they sure enough do!

I compost , recycle , use energy saver bulbs, and I have never been in a Gap store!


DUers are the best informed people on the planet (at least some are!)In my years here I have learned so much about the environment ,politics, good books ,and how to view things with a cynical eye ---just to name a few!

:toast: to all of the DUers who help me to keep my head on straight!

[orleans]

18. paid my bills this morning. (half are late--but i paid them so that's done) n/t

[JitterbugPerfume]

21. yep!

That always makes me feel good too. One more payment and one of my credit cards is PAID IN FULL . It has been a long and rough process , but most of all it has been a valuable lesson learned!

[orleans]

26. that's great. i'm very happy for you. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

23. Be sure to mention about banana diversity and other varieties

The 'Cavendish' banana is about the only banana you'll ever see in North American stores. But it is a purebred, with no genetic diversity. That means that a single disease could wipe out the whole crop if allowed to spread.

Also, it's a sterile crop - the plant does not produce seeds. Read more here:

http://www.croptrust.org/main/priority.php?itemid=35

However, the Cavendish is most certainly not the only kind available. There are many different sizes, colors and textures of banana. The reason you never see them? It's the stranglehold that companies like Dole and Chiquita have over almost all banana production. They have their plantations and their methods of cultivation that are very profitable.

It's time we started seeing more varieties of banana. But it won't come unless we demand it.

[JitterbugPerfume]

24. Thanks for this information!

it is very important

[Canuckistanian]

25. No problem

It's time we all started thinking about our food sources - before it's too late.