GROW IT

Grow it veg boxes delivered to your home
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Bravo!

Mass consumption

"Culture and civilizations are so enormous,
so rich, so complex and varied,
that getting to know a fragment of them,
a mere scrap,
would require devoting one's whole life
to the enterprise.
Cultures are edifices with countless rooms,
corridors, balconies and attics,
all arranged further more,
into such twisting, turning labyrinths,
that if you enter one there is no exit,
no retreat, no turning back..."
writes Ryzard Kapuscinski,
the polish foreign correspondent.

And so the border frontiers
of Burma and Thailand go!
Here I am in this wild frontier,
refusing the plastic bag,
accepting the meal,
refusing the meat,
taking the local transport,
signing the papers,
paying the money,
taking the notes,
kneeling at the temples,
sitting in the eating houses,
pulling down the mozzie net,
rubbing on the lavender oil,
taking vitamin B2,
holding the baby,
cross legged on the bus.

In the middle of a teak forest/jungle
on the edge of the Burmese mountains,
not too far but far enough from a frontier town
full of many many influences.
A gathering of hill tribes,
Akha,
Karen,
Mon,
Lisu, Maew,
the infamous Paduang
with their gold neck stretching bands,
Thai, Burmese, Chinese
and Farang (travelers and tourists,
westerners here for what ever reason
and me).
An exercise in list writing!

And here it is that I am, writing my lists,
walking slowly,
waiting with all of the above
at the dusty market station,
sitting with bags of rice,
eggs and brooms in the back of utes,
listening to everyone with eyes open wide,
I am here seemingly in another world.

Where one can choose this:




Or this:


General store, Mae hong son.

































...Yet it is the same world
and in the still of the morning
I think of my sister who waits in hospital
for her unborn baby
to engage before she gives birth..
and Tone, who waits in the blue mountains
as his fathers body is prepared for his funeral.
I read emails with a smile.
Before I sleep and as I wake I lie under my mosquito net
as the mist fills and lifts in the teak trees
I am surrounded by
and I hear only the jungle
and think of the mistakes I made with my heart,
of the trade that goes on,
of the reasons I am here,
of the things I have to do when I return,
of the way things get done,
of the politics,
of the people, of the land.

When the mist lifts
and the other far off noises start,
the farming, the motorbikes,
I get up.
I walk up and into town and I drink strong black coffee.
I never know what time it is, until I engage with the village.

One day my words will become actions
and actions words
but for now everything
lies somewhere between being and naming,
just like leonard cohen,
just like Kapuscinski,
for what ever label and what ever reason,
" The desire to 'cross the border',
to look at what was beyond it, stirred in me still."


I quietly give gratitude
for all we receive,
for all our freedom
and all that is accessible to us
for it is not equal to all of us around the world.

Just two words.

"Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers - especially in the South. Fair Trade organizations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade." *
From Etiko


The grade four kids from the local catholic school St Columba's,
in association with Good Shepherd Youth and Family service are having a
fair trade day.

'Show that you care, be fair'

Its on Tuesday the 1st of Sept between 2:30-3:15

There will be guest speakers fair trade coffee
from Combi coffee (a little coffee shop further down
Ormond road) and a fair trade stall
with things made from around the world.
It will be held in the playground.

A group of kids armed with a camera
and a clipboard came into the store
and interviewed Tony about FAIR TRADE.

When I spoke to them and asked them what fair trade was
I was told this:

" Well, you know like in Peru and stuff, people make soccer balls
and get like 50 cent, a day!
..and well like then the company who makes them
well, they sell them for maybe 50 dollars,
and then David Beckham,
he makes like, hang on...
(The stats come out and are discussed
amongst the group huddled around the counter)
...He makes like 150 thousand for just using the soccer ball
that the person in peru made and got 50 cents for.."

So what's Fair trade then? I enquire.

"When it isn't like that."


At the store we sell Fair trade
-Coffee ( Jasper)
-Chocolate (Loving earth)
-Coconut oil

Arpad from Etiko came in after the kids
and now we will sell Fair trade
Replacable head toothbrushes
Tee shirts
Soccer balls and Sneekers..

Arpad said that strangely, the fair trade products
don't sell in fashion stores or sports stores,
One has to go to 'Friends of the earth' or Oxfam and soon

The Elwood General store..