Conscious Shopping

[ChristineL]

While reading and contributing to another thread; "Incident at Whole Foods", I got the idea for this new thread. I, and others of us here, seem to prefer to shop in stores that not only offer good service and merchandise but also treat their employees fairly and pay a living wage. I also like to support local small businesses. I had suggested in the other thread that people name businesses they know pay decently and treat their employees well.

I know people who work for CosCo. They are well paid and even get a decent benefits package.

G&G Market carries quality merchandise and also pay decently.

Coffee Bazaar in Guerneville sells fair trade coffee that is shade grown organic. They treat their employees well...the pay is not much better than in most coffee shops, but they do supply medical insurance to their full-timers.

Mill Street Thrift in Guerneville. There are no employees. The money is used to feed the homeless and anyone else who may not be able to buy enough food for themselves and/or their families. Five days a week a hot meal is cooked in the store for the homeless. It's not only hot, it smells good enough to make you hungry while shopping.

Food for Humans in Guerneville is a small organic food store. They also carry natural soaps, beauty products, vitamins, etc. All the employees seem to truly enjoy working there and many have been there for years. They carry Strauss milk and local eggs, two things that are important to me.

Please everyone, add to this list...

[shellebelle]

Lets take this a step further. Everyone buys soap, many of us Dr Bonner's. Good stuff I am sure we all agree. BUT what if we could do some basic adjustments to how we buy?

What if you bought Dr Bonner's from Andy's or Fir Crest instead of Whole Foods?

What if you put down the Dr Bonner's and bought soap from one of the local merchants at Farmer's market - soap made here in this county?

Small example.

Organic produce sold most places at about the same price but what if you bought from local farmer's through CSA?

What if you could make your goal for 2009 to be buying at least 20% of all your purchases from not only local independent store but also local independent manufacturers?

The way to beat a recession is to buy local.

Oh and on a side note what if you chose to purchase products that were only free trade made or even better not made out of country even if it cost you another 10-15%? And what if you took one more step and said even at resale you make this chose - the chose to not re-purchase items from out of country.

How would it change your local economy and your world?

[Sara S]

Ditto on Mill Street Thrift in Guerneville; I give them my donations.

Haven't asked about the employee conditions at Gold Coast Coffee in Duncans Mills, but the same people seem to have been there for a long time, and the coffee is so fresh, the pizzas are great, and they have the best bear claws I've even eaten!

For muffler repairs: I had a loose tailpipe-part a couple of weeks ago (I could tell, because the car sounded like a Harley with no muffler) and was in Santa Rosa, so went to Johnny Franklin's on SR Avenue. Every one of the workers there had smiles on their faces, the owner was joking non-stop, and did the minor repair I needed for cheap, after explaining to me what was wrong. When I mentioned that I'd last been in the shop maybe 25 years ago, he told me that he was the son of the original owner, and his sons were also working there. A really nice experience.

Also G&G Market: the same employees for years and years, excellent groceries, and, unlike Spaceway and other chains, they offer the shopper several choices of most items, instead of one brand name and their own label.

While reading and contributing to another thread; "Incident at Whole Foods", I got the idea for this new thread. I, and others of us here, seem to prefer to shop in stores that not only offer good service and merchandise but also treat their employees fairly and pay a living wage. I also like to support local small businesses. I had suggested in the other thread that people name businesses they know pay decently and treat their employees well.

I know people who work for CosCo. They are well paid and even get a decent benefits package.

G&G Market carries quality merchandise and also pay decently.

Coffee Bazaar in Guerneville sells fair trade coffee that is shade grown organic. They treat their employees well...the pay is not much better than in most coffee shops, but they do supply medical insurance to their full-timers.

Mill Street Thrift in Guerneville. There are no employees. The money is used to feed the homeless and anyone else who may not be able to buy enough food for themselves and/or their families. Five days a week a hot meal is cooked in the store for the homeless. It's not only hot, it smells good enough to make you hungry while shopping.

Food for Humans in Guerneville is a small organic food store. They also carry natural soaps, beauty products, vitamins, etc. All the employees seem to truly enjoy working there and many have been there for years. They carry Strauss milk and local eggs, two things that are important to me.

Please everyone, add to this list...

[ChristineL]

I want to add the Garden Grill, also in Guerneville. They are family owned by a couple who are truly community-minded. They grill their own meats, this means that the turkey sandwiches are made with real turkey. The salads are very fresh, the clam chowder soup is home-made, the cheese is totally real (not squeezed from a bottle) and the blue cheese dressing is home made as Judy could not find any commercially made that did not contain MSG. Their employees seem to be very happy working there. The prices are reasonable. If you sit outside amongst the beautiful plants, you can bring your well-behaved dog. They'll even bring your furry friend a bowl of water. The patio is covered (if there's high wind, you'll still get wet in the rain) and heat lamps will keep you warm.