1132 CORE Feb17 PROOF2

Christianity and the Dilemma
of Ethical Purchasing
Is it possible on a limited budget to purchase ethically sourced products or
services that are good for people and the environment?
During my first year as Business Manager at Christian Supply Chain I have had many of our members ask
about our purchasing policy. For us, ethical purchasing can be defined as: The practice of buying products
and services produced in a way that minimises social and/or environmental damage.
This means ensuring that each purchase is a positive
vote towards actively benefiting other humans,
animals or the environment. Recognizing that the
cheapness of a purchase has a cost implication down
the producer line is an important aspect to ethical
purchasing. A Fully Screened approach involves
looking both at the product and the company. How
do you know if a product or service is ethical? There
is no universal ethical logo to provide guidance but
there are numerous standards and logos, such as:
Organic; Fairtrade; Red Tractor Assurance; Forestry
Commission.
“How can I claim to live like Christ if I continue
to buy into labour practices that exploit and
dehumanize the poor?”
The fact is that the global manufacturing system is
broken. In the cutthroat world of retail, demand for
low prices paired with increasing raw materials costs
mean companies seek to cut costs in the only place
with a bit of wriggle room: labour. And labourers
often have to take what they can get, ultimately being
cornered into wage slavery by distant corporations
who pretend not to know what they’re buying into. In
the best case scenario, entire families go to work and
barely scrape by. In the worst case, such as the tragedy
at Rana Plaza, Bangladesh in 2013, over 1000 people
died when their workplace collapsed.
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the
world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need
and yet refuses help? – 1 John 3:17 ESV
We have a duty as Christians to protect the poor,
the widowed, and the orphan by demanding
manufacturing transparency and redirecting our
spending to companies and organizations that treat
people with the dignity they deserve.
Where to begin?
It starts with using your ‘LOAF’:
Local, Organic, Animal-friendly and Fairtrade.
Wherever possible, we seek suppliers for CSC Buying
Group who provide products and services that fall
within these criteria. So, whenever possible you
have an option to buy items meeting one or more of
these production standards. For example:
Bidvest Foodservice
They set up Plate2Planet (www.plate2planet.co.uk) to
bring sustainability to the food sector, being awarded
Green wholesaler of the year 3 times running,
primarily through improving management of food
waste through their ‘Food to Field initiative. They
promote and support local and regional businesses
and have Organic, Red Tractor and FairTrade ranges.
Kingdom Coffee – www.kingdomcoffee.co.uk
They have a simple mantra of continually striving to
source quality products from ethical sources, carrying
a large range of brand leading products that don’t
cost the Earth. For example, they were one of the first
to introduce 100% biodegradable paper cups.
Finally, instead of concluding that convenience
always acts as justification for compromising our
ethical standards, remember the principle that there
is no such thing as ‘convenient Christianity.’ The
challenge of seeking ethical products means we rely
on God and show commitment to Him in the way we
discipline ourselves practically in our daily lives. That’s
what we hope to achieve as a Christian Buying Group.
So when you are ‘making do’ on a limited budget, be
encouraged that it is not beyond your reach to be
ethical whilst saving money!
Steve Hallett
How can I
claim to live
like Christ if
I continue to
buy into labour
practices that
exploit and
dehumanize
the poor?
www.cci.org.uk PAGE 15