i would add to this video with my own commentary, but RAN says it all for me... especially with my previous post on food shortages, and the riots that are happening because of it. We need to boycott fuel companies which are using Ethanol and taking food away from hungry people to power our cars. What we need is an electric car.

Take it away!

Ecoholic 2

one more thing about Ecoholic:

in discussion of the eco-friendly options for birth control, i was disappointed to see that the diaphragm was not mentioned.

The diaphragm is the ultimate eco-friendly birth control option... almost no waste

she spends significant time talking about the environmental impact of the hormone residue from hormonal birth control, and ignores the health implications the birth control has... she mentions the other poisions we find in our makeup, our skin cream, or bug spray, but does not discuss the health problems that can come from hormonal birth control...

Essentially, vasil lists off the problems with hormonal birth control but does not offer the diaphragm as an option... of course, there could be problems with the spermicidal jelly. I'm not too sure. However, the diaphragm itself is excellent with respect to waste.

Ecoholic

So, this week I started working at Starbucks! Which, can I mention, is just amazing because they are such an awesome company.

I had "coffee school" today, which was a workshop where we learned about the "Starbucks Experience" and we learned about everything that the company does with regards to Corporate Social Responsibility.

One of the most amazing things that I learned today about Starbucks was the relationship they have with the farmers who grow their coffee. Starbucks actually goes into countries frequently and works together with farmers to help them develop sustainable growing practices, helping the farmers learn how to grow the finest coffee beans, and then, because of the quality of the beans being produced, pays the farmers premium prices for their coffee beans.

What is most remarkable though, is the way which Starbucks will help out the farmers if there is a time of need. We watched a video today about a farm that was struck by a catastrophic natural disaster, and so, within 24 hours Starbucks has freed up one million dollars within the company in order to help the farmers rebuild. Just when they thought they had lost everything, Starbucks, came and went to the farms and helped the farmers get back on their feet.

I love starbucks mission statement, and I love starbucks. They want to be the largest purveyor of fine coffee, with unprecedented quality, and they are doing it without screwing anyone. They are doing it while ensuring that their partners are all valued, and that their farmers are not exploited.

Which brings me to the title of this post: Ecoholic.

Ecoholic is a book I bought recently, and so far I've really enjoyed it. Essentially, it's a consumer's manifesto, a good handbook for anyone who is looking to lessen their environmental impact, providing alternatives to modern products used daily which generally avoid the cancer-causing earth-destroying poisons and chemicals.

Now I say, so far I've enjoyed it, however, I feel that Adria Vasil has overlooked some key principles when discussing Starbucks.

On page 99: "NGOs have been pressuring major coffee companies to start selling fair-trade coffee for years now, saying the industry is making mountains off the backs of underpaid farm workers. Starbucks gave in (somewhat) and started selling fair trade coffee in 2002, and these beans now account for 1.6% of its sales (about 2.2 million kilograms). Starbucks also buys about 30% of its coffee direct from farmers, giving growers a bigger slice of the pie by cutting out the middleman. Fair- trade activists want to see that number cimb, and they also want to see the coffee shop start brewing pots of fair-trade java more than just once a month. FYI, three of the Starbucks I stopped in didn't even have fair trade beans on shelves."

I have problems with this statement for a number of reasons:

Starbucks did not give in to anything. The guiding principles of the mission statement, help Starbucks measure the appropriateness of their decisions, and selling fair trade and fairly traded coffee and refusing to be a part of exploitation is the core of the Starbucks culture. Many people seem to recognize Starbucks as another "greenwashed" corporation, however, the goal is to become the "premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow," and this includes treating each other with respect and dignity, as well as considering the environment and communities in decision-making

By extension this obviously includes the farmers, and as is illustrated in the Corporate Social Responsibility report, Starbucks takes their mission statement very seriously.

Vasil also fails to mention the ways in which Starbucks gives back to the communities, such as through the sale of Ethos water, in which 10cents from the sale of every bottle goes towards sustainable water programs around the world. Starbucks has set a goal of donating $10 million by 2010 toward helping children around the world get clean water and raise awareness of the world water crisis.

There's still more that Vasil conveniently ignored: Starbucks uses 20% renewable energy (although, why not bullfrog power??) and their cups are made from 10% (or something like that) of post-consumer material.

Of course, the best choice is to not consume coffee at all considering the fossil fuels etc, but Vasil definitely gives a biased and minimally researched account of the efforts that Starbucks makes. What Vasil should note, is that not only does Starbucks have such a wonderful mission statement, but, unlike many other companies, they are constantly revisiting the mission statement in order to ensure that in being a profitable company, they do not lose sight of the goals, ethics and responsibilities that they have set before them... The mission statement ensures that we don't lose sight of our resposibility as global citizens, while at the same time acknowledging that profitability is undeniably key to everyone's success.

Not to mention that Starbucks has an Environmental Mission Statement too which should have distinguished the company to Vasil as an obvious choice for the consumption of fine coffee which is fairly traded, if not all Fair Trade Certified... that would also be another middleman... woe is me

A quick look at a Starbucks Timeline will clearly show the company's swift expansion, along with their community contributions... i am quite dissapointed indeed.

I think I've found my calling!

This is a really old post that I found today (September 5, 2009) that I had never fully completed or published. I did go to conestoga college last year, although I do not have a job in human resources management, and I still want to be a doula. So, just over a year after I started this post, I've decided that I am going to do it, and I've begun working on Certification with DONA International! This post ends abrubtly, but I wrote it a year ago, so I won't edit it any. I will blog separately about my journey as a doula... you can find the link if you click on my profile. Or you can find it here.

Although, the sad part is that I don't think that I can answer my calling without a full-time job secured, which requires that I still finish one more year of school, doing my Human Resources degree at Conestoga College... although that is still up in the air right now... I'm considering dropping the program... because I really really want to be a doula! Ever since I've been doing research on childbirth, and what options exist for women, I've learned that becoming a doula is something that I can do, rather than become a midwife.

I've been doing research, but I'm not sure where is the best place to become a certified doula. There is DONA the international, which is the obvious choice, however, their training program is mostly done through correspondence, and as such, there is no help in really setting up your network, and gathering a client base.

Another option is this training that actually happens in Kitchener, which seems like it might be a nice idea! This woman is a certified doula trainer, trained through the Ontario Perinatal School and she offers a range of programs: birth doula training, childbirth educator, and postpartum doula. Eventually, if I got into this industry, I would like to obtain all three of these certifications and then begin my own private doula practice! I would love to have the letters CD after my name!

Well, I've really been thinking about it, and I am so much into this, that I really don't want to even go to Conestoga anymore! I really, really, really want to start taking this doula course! I think that it will be so much more fulfilling than human resourses... although it seems as though being doula, especially starting out, is something that I would do "on the side" rather than as my primary source of income. (which saddens me, because I would do it!)

State of California overturns ban on gay marriage :)

I know i'm a little late posting this, but either way, it's still cause for celebration. When I saw this video it almost made me cry! I'm so happy for Ellen!

"A Green Veneer on Business as Usual"

Remember this post??

Checking out my Youtube subscriptions I found this video, and I am eternally grateful.


Go RAN.

Peace, Love and Clean Air

Ok, I've done enough blogging for a while now...time for a nap :)

Transgender man gives birth

Someone please tell my why everyone is making such a big deal about this.

A woman undergoes a sex change, for whatever reason does not remove her uterus (can't afford to for example), wants a baby, gets pregnant with the uterus not removed, so, gives birth.

What is the big deal? We didn't create a uterus and ovaries or any of that... so would everyone stop treating this man like he is a circus freak? Why has this even become news worthy? that's what I'd like to know...

fuck yeah stephane dion

I heard on the news this week that everyone in Alberta is flipping out because Stephan Dion is implementing a carbon tax and it is going to be a "massive blow" to the economy.

Ok. News flash world: all environmentally responsible changes are not going to be profitable. This is a time where ethics has to come out on top of the almighty dollar, which I know will be difficult for Alberta to swallow because they thrive on oil sales.

So fucking right Stephane Dion. You implement that carbon tax and you stand your ground.
An excerpt from the article:

The Grit boss, in the city for Stampede festivities, argued neither the Harper government nor the government of Premier Ed Stelmach are doing enough to fight climate change, and that it's his job, as a federal leader, to forge ahead with aggressive policies that ensure a healthy environment for future generations.

and I agree 100% with Dion... Harper is definitely dropping the ball on the environment, and Alberta seems to have little to no interest in environmental responsibility given the circumstances.

While out in Southampton, I heard this on the news and rejoiced inside! I am so happy that Stephane is taking this initiate! Happy Planet!

Southampton

Ahhhhh to return to the city... incredibly sad since the most beautiful and eco-friendly vacation of my life just ended. I just spent the past week in Southampton, reading "Pushed" and wishing that I had access to the internet so I could more accurately discuss my experience in the small community, and do some Canadian-based research on modern maternity care in Canada. But alas, my life was so hard as I watched the sun set and did nothing but read...

Now that I'm sitting at my desk in Waterloo, I feel like I can't describe the week accurately. (But I'll try)

Southampton is on lake Huron, and it is absolutely beautiful. My family and I have been going there for years, and each time we're there we take a picture by this gigantic rock at our "spot" on the beach. The whole vacation has a sense of nostalgia to it, but being 24 now, it was also a different kind of experience for my sister and I. First, I was able to appreciate the beauty that is Ontario. I experienced 7 beautiful sunsets, swam in clear blue (yet cold) water, and was able to take a beautiful scenic bike ride along the shoreline. Breathtaking. Beyond that, I was able to experience this vacation as something that was eco-friendly! Which was what i loved the most... I think that we drove twice- once with my parents to Port Elgin for dinner, and once to Port Elgin with my partner to do some shopping and bask in the small-town feel of all the small towns. Other than that, there was literally no driving done for a week. You can bike or walk everywhere you need to go in Southampton. Can I also mention the local produce that abounded? The local craft show? The local everything? Wind turbines in the fields on the drive up? It was lovely. Leaving that beauty for the city is shameful! Southampton is the place for the eco-friendly person who can truly appreciate the beauty that is Canada.

This trip was so rejuvenating and really made me come to the decision that at some point I would like to invest in property in Southampton! I would love to own a cottage up there, and I would of course make sure that whatever cottage I bought had a bedroom/accommodations for my parents... they'll certainly have earned it!

I am very thankful to my parents for their polite refusal to take family vacation in Florida or a tropical location. Throughout my whole life they have been firm supporters of travelling Canada, and at the age of 24 I was finally able to appreciate Southampton, Ontario and Canada for it's breathtaking beauty. At this point I feel no need to leave the country for a holiday. I am only concerned with making sure I get one more day in Southampton this summer...

A Culture of Life

So I just finished reading Jennifer Block’s book “Pushed,” and I have to say that I loved it! The only thing about the book that is a little annoying is that it is written specifically within the context of the American Healthcare System. Block did make reference to Canadian Studies, and I’ve finished this book with a lot of direction with regards to bibliography and my future research.

What is the most disturbing to me is the fact that so many women are being forced into the operating room for unwanted C-Sections. In fact, some women in the states actually receive court orders to undergo C-Sections. The C-Section rate in the US is incredibly high, sometimes as high as 40%... why are so many women undergoing C-Sections? Block tells us that it has to do with Liability. For example, Doctor’s Malpractice Insurance will not cover Vaginal Birth after a Cesarean (VBAC) which forces women who have one C-Section to have C-Sections for all subsequent births.

Block really provides an eye-opening and through discussion of childbirth practices in the western world, however, my favorite part of the book was the last chapter entitled “Rights” which actually discussed the way in which birthing women’s needs are continually circumvented by insurance policies. This was interesting because Block actually ended up focusing an entire chapter on what I consider to be the main issue with modern maternity care: the issue of reproductive rights. Women are daily forced into surgery and procedures (think: episiotomy) that they do not consent to, but that doctors consider to be “necessary.” Women are continuously finding themselves in abusive situations, often characterizing their birth experience in the hospital as rape, or feeling like a piece of meat. This should not be the way any woman feels after her birth experience. I’ve written about this in a paper I submitted for one of my women’s studies classes this year, but I framed the problem within ethics and did not consider the issue of rights. I think that Block does an excellent job of questioning the ways in which women’s rights are being violated time and time again within a hospital birthing setting. She discusses a problem which I have been noticing lately, particularly with the discussion of Bill C-484 which would essentially give fetuses rights. Bill C-484 is called The Unborn Victims of Crime Act and would protect fetuses if a woman is killed and is pregnant at the time. The problem is however, that by giving unborn fetuses rights, we will be getting into issues of re-criminalizing abortions, and now as we broaden our spectrum a bit, we’ll see that women’s rights will be circumvented in the delivery room, disregarding women’s autonomy and doing only what is best for the baby.

Doctors always say “We want a healthy baby,” essentially trying to justify the intervention through guilt and fear. The goal should be happy healthy mothers- if we don’t take care of the mother then how is the baby going to be cared for? How can we allow major abdominal surgery to happen over and over again, sending traumatized mothers home to care for new babies with huge wounds that can take months to heal? What is going on? Women have “…the right to bodily integrity, to self-determination, to liberty, and to privacy” (Block 253) and yet we find these rights repeatedly violated and women going home traumatized.

Why are we as women allowing this to happen to us? Why are women standing for this? I certainly am not. Luckly, I am privileged enough to live in Ontario, where I have a “choice” for my birth experience. Namely, OHIP covers midwives as an option for birth, whereas in the US midwives are illegal in many states. Why a midwife would be illegal is beyond me. A midwife provides everything a woman in labour could need: comfort, advise, strength, coaching, and most importantly, allows the labouring woman’s body to guide the labour, rather than stats and charts discussing risks. The midwife has patience and compassion in a way that the hospital does not, and in the end, allows a labouring woman to have the birth experience at the end which she is so entitled to after such hard work! Every woman should get to experience that orgasm after their baby is born, where they just hold him and the love hormones are released and bonding can occur.

It is said that this release of hormones is crucial to mother-baby bonding. That it is crucial for breastfeeding, and that clamping of the umbilical cord should be delayed a few minutes once mother and baby have bonded and the rest of the blood in the umbilical cord (which is full of important nutrients) has entered the baby’s body. Not to mention that labour is so smart, that the pain is important to help women to know what angles and what positions to use to push, and when the baby is crowning, there is a special sequence of contractions which help the baby be ejected! Why would anyone want to be so meddlesome in such a perfectly designed event? This is what women’s bodies are designed for, and it is being taken away from us, snatched right out from under our noses.

We cannot stand for this, and need to make it an issue of reproductive rights. Block actually mentions her surprise that this issue has not garnered more of a response from bioethicists and reproductive rights organizations, however, as with the discussion of Bill C-484 in Toronto, the focus remains on abortion and birth control, not rights to actually reproduce the way we desire.

So, I would just like to end with some quotes from Block’s book which I thought were particularly compelling with regards to this question of rights:

“Adults seeking medical care have both the right to receive treatment ande right to refuse treatment, and they have the right to know the risks and benefits of each treatment option, including the option of no treatment at all. The legal term is informed consent.” (253)

“You can’t have a ‘culture of life’ if you don’t value the women who give that life.” (256)

“Autonomy is an unlimited, unimpeded negative right. A pregnant woman, any woman, has the right to refuse anything.” (258)

“You have the right to decide on abortion, you have a right to decide on contraception. Don’t you also have the right to decide where you have a baby, where you have your birth experience?” (263)

This last quote, to me, is the most profound. Why is it that feminists seem so hell-bent on making sure that abortion is legal and that contraception is easy to find and yet there is little to no feminist discourse with regards to the abusive treatment of women in labour? This book is definitely a call to action for me; right now I’m blogging in Southampton at the beach, with a very weak internet signal and no land line, however, when I return to Kitchener, I will be spending a significant amount of time doing some Canadian research on the topic- according to Block there is a Canadian Report on Maternal death due out this year, so I’ll have to see if it’s already been published, as well as call hospitals and ask them about their stats for particular interventions. Either way I will be blogging about Childbirth again… to me, it seems considerably more important than access to birth control or abortion… maybe it’s the stage I’m at in my life, but how can we really expect to have abortion access and birth control when women who actually want to give birth are unable to do so the way we want to? Millions of women give birth every day and leave hospitals traumatized and broken down, and still, our main focus of reproductive rights remains invested in abortion… this book is 100% a call to action, a call for revolution and time for women to make demands and demand access to alternatives, and their bodily integrity in childbirth to be respected, or rather, revered. It is a time to reevaluate what falls under the spectrum of reproductive rights, and quickly, maternity care needs to be saved!

Either way, if you’re interested in sources re: bibliography, or a more in depth conversation on this topic, let me know!