Horrors at Halloween



Halloween is creeping up on us!

Time for some sneaky snacking and bloodcurdling baking.

We all need a break every now and then - Half term for me hasn't come a moment too soon!
Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that we should all forget our morality and ethics.

Raise your hand if you are also a culprit of buying cheap, last-minute sweets and dishes in a rush. Once, twice. Maybe a couple of hundred times. We've all done it.
And with Halloween being famed by kids for its opportunity to go reckless with sugar, the number of unsustainable, unhealthy and immoral sweets flying of shelves is the true horror of October.

By 'unhealthy,' I don't just mean because of the sugar - everyone who is anyone knows that all sweet treats have sugar in them and, like I said, Halloween is a time of year to let loose and run wild! (within the law.)
Nah I'm talking about those slightly dodgy products. Those unheard of, unregulated items that can be found in any place, in any town, in almost every developing country. Those that are filled with artificial chemicals and uncontrolled additives. They're cheap, the only reason to love them - but they're one hell of an awful bargain for the rest of the world.

This came to my attention when I went to M&S recently and noticed that some of the products I bought contained palm oil. Now - many of those who know me will understand how much I despised seeing 'palm oil' written on anything and don't understand why it's still allowed to be used without warnings or alternatives.
BUT I WAS WRONG - palm oil can be produced sustainably - it's just so difficult to find out if and where it is due to corruption and inequalities. So I do apologise M&S, I understand that you try your best, yet I would love your input on this and to see what measures you put in place to attain palm oil that's as sustainable as possible.

(M&S aren't going to read this what am I doing?!)
If you want to find a little bit more about M&S's approach to palm oil, please click here.

Here is a website to help the honourable shopper choose the most ethical produce and stores to shop at.

Don't be fooled though folks. Just because some products are sustainable, not all of them are. Even within the same store - an easy way to spot this is having organic, British lamb sold next to the cheaper, shipped in lamb from New Zealand within any big shopping giant. With sweets though, it's much harder.

Some pre-planning and research can help, but who has time for that nowadays! If you're not sure, just don't buy - saving you time, money and guilt. Look out for sustainable palm oil signs and watch out for those not-so-ethical stores that may be tempting your unsuspecting, scrambling mind.

One day we'll be greener - just take it one step at at time.

 H _ M
    :)

Bibliography:
http://www.mgtdesign.co.uk/webdesign/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/cat-skull-ghost-halloween-pumpkin.jpg

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We are so small.

Image
Twitter has unveiled me to so many days in the calendar that I had no clue existed! I'm sure I'm not the only one... Today is Endangered Species Day but, considering this event comes 3 days before exam week, I'm afraid this entry is going to be a bit brief. I only hope that other articles give you more details of this day and the honest publicity such a topic like this deserves. I hope they make us think. Really think. Think how closely entwined we are with the Earth; not only do we influence nature, we are a part of it. We are, in the grand scheme of things, a mere minority amongst the mass of biodiversity on this planet. A simple carbon store in it's whole entity. According to http://storiented.blogspot.co.uk , Showing less than 1% of all known species, this phylogenetic tree of life was created by David Hillis, Derreck Zwickil and Robin Gutell. It displays the evolutionary relationships of about 3,000 species. Hillis et al., Science, 2003 Think how much in...
Read more

Can we protect the deep sea?

Image
Knowing what we know now, what would you give to go back in time and stop fossil fuel extraction? If you had the chance to reverse it all and go straight into a just system of renewable energy distribution, is there anything you wouldn’t do? Dwelling on the road not taken is no doubt unproductive; stirring up climate apathy and an encroaching sense of doom. For that reason, it can be best to hold onto the future visions generated by grassroots communities and activists rather than facts of the past. Yet if there’s another lesson to be learned from climate activists, especially those from marginalised backgrounds and Indigenous peoples, it’s that we mustn’t forget our past. Rather, we can take our horrors, our fears, past traumas and mistakes, and channel them into more considered and decisive action. And now we are faced with the opportunity. Yesterday, the United Nation’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) met in Kingston, Jamaica, to discuss the potential of deep-sea mining (DSM). ...
Read more

The Pearl of Africa

Image
You are probably wondering why my focus on palm oil has fazed out. Or, more bluntly, why I haven't posted in 3 weeks (sorry, folks). Well, for once, I have a good reason.  The last couple of weeks have been ones of discovery, novelty and fascination. Through exploring the emerging hubbubs of human civilisations and becoming part of the tranquil landscapes which teemed with nature, I explored a glorious place; Uganda.  Forgive the diversion, with the permission of several communities, I feel a heavy urge to share my experience with you. Perhaps, together, we could find some answers to the questions I still ponder over? Also, at the request of several communities, I wish to share the unheard stories of people living in this wondrous land. I present to you the Pearl of Africa. To Mityana Source: Own Innovat ive - Uganda is one of the poorest nations in the world. In 2012, over a third of the population lived on less than $1.25 a day. The stats also show us t...
Read more