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I came across a couple of things on Twitter earlier this week. The first was a blog post from last July that someone tweeted because they thought it was still soooo relevant. The thrust of the post was that BIG corps. are now trying to market themselves as being local and/or home-grown. Completely absurd… yet, some of them may actually get away with it, if we don’t stop them first.
As a sample, here are the first three paragraphs:
HSBC, one of the biggest banks on the planet, has taken to calling itself "the world’s local bank." Starbucks is un-branding at least three of its Seattle outlets, the first of which just reopened as "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea." Winn-Dixie, a 500-outlet supermarket chain, recently launched a new ad campaign under the tagline, "Local flavor since 1956." The International Council of Shopping Centers, a global consortium of mall owners and developers, is pouring millions of dollars into television ads urging people to "Shop Local" – at their nearest mall. Even Wal-Mart is getting in on the act, hanging bright green banners over its produce aisles that simply say, "Local."
Hoping to capitalize on growing public enthusiasm for all things local, some of the world’s biggest corporations are brashly laying claim to the word "local."
This new variation on corporate greenwashing – local washing – is, like the buy-local movement itself, most advanced in the context of food. Hellmann’s, the mayonnaise brand owned by the processed-food giant Unilever, is test-driving a new "Eat Real, Eat Local," initiative in Canada. The ad campaign seems aimed partly at enhancing the brand by simply associating Hellmann’s with local food. But it also makes the a claim that Hellmann’s is local, because most of its ingredients come from North America.
It’s a longish piece, but well worth reading in its entirety. Apparently, the BIG corps. have taken a cue from one of our most basic necessities: FOOD… and they are trying to apply the local and home-grown branding to themselves.
We simply must try to stop them, while also convincing others that buying what is truly local or regional is desirable, even though this corporate branding campaign is not.
I also came across (again via Twitter) a new blog/campaign from Citi, in which they are trying to soften their image and persuade others that the have "listened" and "learned" from the recent past. I don’t buy any of it! You may wish to take a peek at it, but just for laughs. The (paid?) shills are SO OBVIOUS!
The most important thing we can do is to connect the dots between the outsourcing of jobs, the predatory banking & lending practices, the rapacious methods of health insurance [sic] providers, and what substantive financial industry and health care industry reforms would REALLY look like (Nothing like what we’re seeing so far, that’s for darn sure!) …as well as by being honest about the minimal impact our votes currently have. I’m not suggesting that we should no longer vote, but that voting is just one tiny action, among so many other more powerful actions that we can take, particularly when the corporations have bought our government lock, stock & barrel. Rather, we must reclaim our commerce.
I live in a pretty small community (near an urban area), but it has an active progressive community, who first spent years working at winning local elections, and whose members are responsible for a seasonal farmer’s market that is going on four years now, and a local (i.e., independent) coffee & bake shop, an independent video store with a small screening room, and many more plans simmering in development…
That is how these kinds of community building activities are accomplished, not with national campaigns, but at home, with our friends and neighbors, gathering together to create something new out of whole cloth, which is something that most of the BIG corps. know nothing about. They only understand numbers, and those they understand in a fairly limited manner. And, organizing our communities is how we can beat these corps., not by following their rules, but by following our own, and not in a hurry, but deliberately and methodically.
21 Comments
I shop at the local 100 mile market first and only go to the chain grocery store for things I can’t get there. I’m sure it doesn’t mean much to the big chain, but it makes me feel good. If everyone does a little, it adds up. HuffPo’s Move Your Money campaign seems to be catching on and doing some good. Same idea. If the government doesn’t want to break them up, we’re going to have to trim them down to size ourselves.
Yes, indeed! It won’t be easy, but it is pretty simple when you stop to contemplate what it means.
I order weekly from a produce storefront that brings in (and they also deliver!) fresh, local and regional produce, only going farther afield when necessary, say, due to weather conditions, etc.
This place is open year-round, while the farmers’ market is seasonal, May through October. And it is an independent operation, run but two women. What’s not to like?
Our 100 mile market is like that. A woman and her daughter own and run it. The local farmers who sell at the farmers’ market once a week have produce in their storefront seven days a week. They also have other vendors from the farmers’ market and vendors who don’t sell at the farmers’ market.
If we don’t vote with our dollars, we’re not going to have many dollars or choices left.
Corporations are one thing…but CORPORATE MONOPOLIES are a completely different, and far more dangerous, animal.
http://markets.newamerica.net/publications/articles/2010/who_broke_america_s_jobs_machine_27941
If we hope to wrest political control away from the corporate monopolies, we first have to neutralize corporate bagmen like Terry McAuliffe and Rahm Emanuel. The following article from truthout.org provides some insight into Emanuel’s strong-arm tactics during the primary process.
http://www.truthout.org/article/special-report-democratic-house-officials-recruited-wealthy-conservatives
If we can’t find some way to purge the bagmen from the Democratic party, then it’s time to break from the Democrats and form a real Progressive Party. I just don’t see that we have much of an alternative.
Thanks for both of those links… they’re both great!
I especially loved the second one, though, because Rahm Emanuel is such a hog for undeserved credit. Dean’s 50-state strategy had more to do with the current “majority” than anything Emanuel did. His “real” legacy is that the majority is broken up into different factions. What good is that?!
Gee, why shouldn’t the big corps get in as fakes in local shopping? After all, they’re having so much fun funding the fake grassroots stuff with the teabaggers!
You do have a point, Jim, but let’s not let them, shall we?
Besides, that astroturf is so utterly unappealing. Nor can I think of anything appropriate to say about the teabagging… more’s the pity!
you forward a good example of whats wrong, I just disagree with a premise that it can be best addressed by local initiative.
What puts local grower at an extreme disadvantage is the subsidies to big ag and regulations designed to advantage the same.
Want to bring back the local farmer– follow the constitution and get rid of the Department of Ag– your federal government at work
I’d rather see the dept of ag put to work to benefit small farmers, though I don’t know if that’s feasible.
We don’t have enough money to bother corporations with “voting with our dollars” or boycott campaigns.
There only one way to hit them. Strikes. If we don’t make it, they can’t sell it.
That might have been an option 25 years ago but what do we make in the US today?
Given all the manufacturing jobs off-shored, there’s not a lot left
Ordinarily, I’d agree with you, at least in a thriving economy, but in this economy, we’re manufacturing very little, and too many people are already jobless. Strikes would only exacerbate the recession/depression that we’re in.
Retailers are already hurting because there is so little demand these days for consumer goods. I keep hearing from my friends who still shop that the malls are like ghost towns. We may not have a lot of discretionary income, but where we do spend money on necessary items, like food, we can start with local or regional sources, rather than the big-box stores.
I’ve cut way back in my use of larger suppliers in favor of local ones, and have been rewarded with better service and less wasted time… sometimes they aren’t as cheap, but that’s just a number. I strongly urge those tethered to large corporations, whether banks or hardware stores, to try something different. You’ll be glad you did.
Great point, cocktailhag! Having just emerged from a nearly 5 day power outage, I can attest to the truth of what you’re saying. The local garden supply place we’ve been dealing with for larger equipment came to our rescue when our generator broke down five minutes after we turned it on. Our job was put on the front burner because they know us. There’s no question where we’ll buy the mower we’ll soon need. Now, the power company…we’ll I’m still a little steamed at them!..though I will say there was an immense amount of damage in the area. I do know our rates went up last year.
Exactly! Better service and less time wasted are worth something. In real money, I think.
I know I always prefer a local yarn store over a chain, but unfortunately, there is not always one available to me. So, when I have to buy something at a chain, I buy the cheaper stuff, and save my money to buy the better stuff at the LYS.
In a way this applies to local versus chain restaurants. They are more likely to use local sources for their supplies and their profits plus the employee’s wages will most likely be spent locally. I got a good deal from my county Dem organization by donating $300 and in return I got $300 in local restaurant discounts, $25 a month, plus a $100 ticket to our annual President’s Gala. There are 200 restaurants I can choose from in a 20 mile radius.
It’s true, RMP. In the small community where I live, I neglected to mention a newish, high-end, BYO, restaurant.
They use almost exclusively locally or regionally grown produce, meat and fish. And the money stays in the community, too.
There has been a growing presence of restaurants in our area that use primarily, if not exclusively, local food and I do my best to support that as well as the local food coop and local growers.
One of the RNs in our clinic is also, with her husband, the owner of a local farm that raises a huge crop of heirloom tomatoes every year that gets sold at local markets all over the city. It’s a real eye-opener to see her place. You realize that there are people out there who do this work because they believe in it and love what they are doing. They deserve as much support as we can give them, so thanks for writing this.
Buy local whenever you can. Small farmers give us a choice and you directly support the community. Farmers markets are wonderful.
Great idea, taking on the corporations in all possible ways. I’m a way old Hippy who tired to comform in the 8o’s but after spending about 27 seconds in Nordstroms I ran screaming back to the 2nd hand stores. I know 2nd hand is not for everyone but I just couldn’t stand the silent screaming of the women and children in the sweat shops forced to make that yuppy crap I was expected to buy and wear. Then, thank Mother, the urban garden movement took hold in my city and I could grow my own—–tomatoes. Then the bike community kicked into gear and now I can bike to work. Baby steps but each one is due to the hard work of dedicated people who took on a national problem locally and gave us all options. More of that! :>)
Thanks, Pedinska, madashell, harpie, and realmaddyke!
Those are all great suggestions or illustrations of how we can make things work better without waiting through months of kabuki, just to feel like we’ve been kicked in the stomach.