Conflict of Interest?

Well, I thought I was only fair and proper to openly declare a conflict of interest on the Rio Rain front.

A few posts back I mentioned my delight at stumbling upon a new store: Rio Rain - in the Orchard Park Shopping Centre in Kelowna. It is chock full of sustainable clothing options but rather than repeat my gushing admonishments here, I will just refer you to my previous post.

Well, after perusing the Rio Rain website and visiting the store a couple times, I noticed that they were looking for sales associates in the Kelowna store. As I have been starting to make more serious plans about my Master's degree program, I have been considering finding some part-time work so that I can start to put money aside for my tuition and hopefully take a class in spring 2009. I only want to work when Mr Joyful is around, so the kids always have one of us with them, so that rules out most office work. When I realized that they were hiring at Rio Rain it seemed the perfect place to approach. I am already very passionate about the product and the store itself is a mere 12 minute bike ride from my house. The mall is open three evenings a week and weekends - so there's lots of opportunity for work when hubby dear is at home. So I applied and had an interview last week and it looks like they're gonna give me a try. I am so excited to be working somewhere that I respect so much. It is nice to labor with a clear conscience - knowing that ultimately we're working for good - to make the world a better place.

But, I did feel like due to my previous comments about the store, I should declare my "conflict of interest". I want to leave the previous post up there because I wrote it before I was a Rio Rain employee and actually the more I learn about the company from the "inside", the more strongly I feel those same sentiments. So there you go.

Dirty Hips!

I think "Dirty Hips" would be a good name for a cook book or a recipe blog. My hips are always dirty when I'm enthralled in a recipe. I try hard to be a respectable chef and wipe my hands on a cloth, but I get excited and carried away and in the rush of creativity I inadvertently wipe my hands on my hips.


Tonight I made my first quiche and it was actually quite good. Here's what I did:

For the crust:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup oil
3 Tbsp ice-cold water
1/2 tsp salt

I mixed all three together, patted into the pie plate and baked it while I prepped/mixed the rest of the ingredients (maybe 10-15 mins).

For the filling:
3 eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup soy milk
1/4-1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup kale, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup chopped tomato (I used baby plum tomatoes and quartered them)
2 tbsp chives, chopped (next time I'd use a small onion and saute it with the mushrooms)
1-2 tsp salt
pepper

I whisked the eggs, mayo, milk, nutritional yeast and flour. Then rinsed and chopped the veggies. I sauted the mushrooms in a little olive oil seasoned with sea salt and ground pepper. I added the tomatoes to the mushrooms when they were nicely browned. I cooked the tomato for a few minutes until they started to break down a little then I added the kale and cooked until it wilted. I mixed the veggies in with the egg mixture and poured it into the crust.
I put it all back in the oven for about 20-25 mins on 375.
The nutritional yeast flakes add a hint of cheesy flavor. It was light and tasty and the kids gobbled it down - even the notoriously fussy Caleb!

The hippy train comes full circle!

I have been doing a lot more research recently into different Master's programs - trying to figure out what the heck I want to do with my life! And I have been leaning heavily towards conflict management. The irony of me being a hippy in training and then pursuing "peace studies" had actually escaped me until now. Funny, but true...

It's just perfect really! But seriously, I have been struggling a lot with what direction I should go in for my Master's. Originally I was going to pursue more theology - perhaps do a linguistics concentration so I could teach Greek and Hebrew, perhaps take straight theology, or maybe do a missiology focus. But the more I read, the more I grew passionate about development issues... sparked in no small part by the wonderful book "Design Like You Give A Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crisis" So I started looking into International Development programs, but that didn't seem like a perfect fit for me either. There was a lot I liked about it, but there was also a lot I really wasn't interested in and I don't like the idea of spending the time, money and energy on courses I'm not totally sold out on.

Feeling at somewhat of a loss, I contacted Mennonite Central Committee. They are so active in the world of development and I really respect their ethos and expertise. Wherever there is a need in the world, they're there just to love and support people and they do excellent work. I shared a little of my background, vision and gifts in an email and I got a phone call shortly after from my MCC rep in BC and we had a wonderful, inspiring conversation. In my correspondence with MCC, I'd asked if there was any particular area of need that they were seeing was under-staffed - were there any essential skills that people seemed to be lacking, or areas where a particular type of education would be useful but where there weren't many people available. I just wanted to see what the areas of need were and what they saw as being priorities in the development world. We had a great conversation and the rep was very encouraging - she suggested that an area that may fit well with my gifts and my passions was the area of peace-building and conflict resolution. She explained that in many, many parts of the developing world communities are struggling to heal the wounds of civil war and strife. She explained that in such cases, before any kind of development work can happen, there first needs to be reconciliation and healing in the community, so that the community can come together to re-build. If the development work happens without this vital component, then it often is thwarted by internal conflict and rivalries and the community is not able to advance the way they should. I was truly inspired by our conversation. The rep was humble enough to say that she kind of felt like God was prompting her to share that with me and I felt a similar "divine intervention". So I began researching various Master's level peace-building programs. In a perfect world, I would ideally love to go to Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia and take their Development track in the Conflict Transformation MA. However, being from Canada, hubby dear would not be able to work down there and I'd have to study full time, which would mean that we'd have to save up all the money first and then take all the classes at once. I had hoped to start soon and finance the degree as I go along. EMU have some amazing courses and thankfully they have a summer institute which hopefully one day I may be able to be a part of, even if its just to audit some courses. But through EMU's wonderful website, I found some other programs in the same field (they are kind enough to list other institutions offering similar programs right on the EMU website!). I discovered that California State University offers a Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding MA entirely online. They have some really cool development-related electives and their tuition fees are really reasonable. It is exciting to think that I could start taking Master's level classes as early as next spring. As much as I think in-class learning is always the best and I would love to take a couple years out to devote to a traditional learning environment, in practice, it is hard to uproot the kids and the hubby, to leave our wonderful landlords and our church and job and relocate - not to mention, incredibly expensive! I would like the freedom of doing as many or as few classes as I want to and being able to study when it suits the kids best. So I am really excited about this development. I read through some of the sylabi online at EMU and have got a hold of some text-books from the library so that I can read more about this discipline and determine if it is for sure the direction I want to take. These are exciting times though... watch this space!

World Shopper

Oh My Goodness!!! I have been blogging a lot today - but exciting things are happening! remember a few posts back I blogged about a British ethical shopping guide called "ethiscore" and I lamented the lack of a North American alternative... well it appears that, as is often the case, I was mistaken! There is indeed a North American version and it is fabulous and the essential information is FREE!! GO RIGHT NOW TO www.betterworldshopper.com for more details! They have lists of different product categories, from consumerables to banks, and they give a letter grade to various companies - empowering the consumer to choose the most responsible company within the category. Excellent, excellent - I have added it to my links bar on my internet portal so I can access it easily any time! It is so good to see the world slowly becoming a better place.

Type rest of the post here

Carrots help you see in the dark!

Hubby and I watched "The Corporation" a couple weeks ago. It was very interesting and echoed a lot of what I have been reading about recently. I am glad that there's a widely accessible format for this information. Anyway, while perusing the movie's website, we came across "Carrot Mob" - in ingenious idea for how to enact positive change with the power of our consumer dollars.

The basic premise of the movement is that we can encourage businesses to change their practices for the better by pooling our consumer dollars and shopping at the store that makes the most positive changes. The trial that was done in California involved a bunch of local liquor stores. The Carrot Mob crew went to each store - all within a few blocks of each other - and offered their business to the store who would undertake the most energy-saving initiatives in their store. One store bid to reduce their energy consumption by a certain percentage, the next store bid more and so on. Finally the store who pledged to make the most changes to their energy consumption won. They made the changes and then the whole "carrot mob" crew got together one Saturday and had a mass shopping spree at the store. The store did well out of it because they got a bunch of business on that day, plus people continued to support it as they knew it was better than the alternatives and it also gave them added publicity. It is an interesting concept. There are some flaws: just because a business can't make as many improvements doesn't mean that it is worse... it may have been better to start off with and therefore have fewer potential improvements to make. But then at least the worst ofenders are cleaning up their acts... it is encouraging change where it needs to happen. Overall, I think the premise is sound and it has great potential. I particularly like the fact that it is a positive approach to activism. Rather than attacking those who are doing it badly, simply make them irrelevant by focusing on those who are doing better. I have been reading a lot about conflict resolution, particularly on national levels, and one theme that recurs is how communities have chosen to create alternative systems of government and society in the midst of dictatorships and oppressive regimes. They have no choice but to live in the shadow of the regime, but rather than fight it physically, they instead create alternatives to it so that in the end it is merely an empty shell and the real life happens in the society the people have created. I see the implication of this in the fight against the corporations. The very nature of a corporation sets it at odds with the greater good of the people. Rather than trying to force corporations to be more ethical, to essentially become something they cannot be, perhaps we should be just ignoring them and focusing our energies on companies who are willing to change or who are already actively engaged in socially and environmentally responsible practices. If enough people took this stance, the corporations would be forced to adapt or collapse... either one would be a satisfactory outcome for the citizens of the world. OK... I'm no Cesar Chavez so I'll get down from my soapbox, but I do live in wine country and I do love to see equality in action!

Blood, Sweat and T-shirts

I have actually been doing really good on my commitment to buy eco-friendly clothing recently. Well, it has helped that we've had no money, so I've not been buying anything! But I have also taken advantage of the wonderful second-hand and consignment stores in Kelowna - I got some sweet summer stuff about a month ago. Then I discovered the amazing world of Rio Rain in the mall, so I'm excited to try more when I have a little disposable income. My wonderful Momma was on the phone today and she mentioned a TV show they've had over in the UK, "Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts", that has taken an in-depth look at the fashion industry, particularly the production of clothing.


The Threads website has a bunch of videos from the show. I found the "Green is the New Black" video particularly helpful as it encapsulates the major issues with unethically produced clothes. You can watch the video at www.bbc.co.uk/thread/video
Mum said the show ought to be compulsory viewing for all churches! I think it should be compulsory for everyone who doesn't already buy 100% fair trade. Just where do people think we get these cheap clothes from anyway? It is so easy to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that we don't know, but the bottom line is that if you can pick up a T-shirt for $5, then someone, somewhere is loosing out on a lot of money, and if you think it is the oh-so-generous executives at the "Gop" or "American Seagull" you'd better think again!

Let it Rain!!

Oh joy, oh rapture! As I was innocently walking through the mall the other day in pursuit of a charger for our cell phone, I happened upon a most beautiful discovery: a new store called Rio Rain - Eco-apparel. Well, imagine my delight when I walked through the store to discover that it is PACKED with 100% sustainable clothing. And what's more, its actually nice stuff!

I seriously had a lump in my throat... finally my isolation in the dessert of Cotton Ginny is over! There is an alternative - and a darned fine one at that!! I am so incredibly excited that this store is in the Kelowna mall! They also have one store in Vancouver but I feel pretty blessed that we have one here too. OK, so some details: the clothes are funky urban chic - not the usual hippy-frump. They have a range of different fabrics, from 100% organic cotton and bamboo to fabrics made out of old pop bottles and re-cycled cotton. The store itself is furnished in reclaimed wood and they boast energy efficient lighting. They give 1% of profits to environmental causes ("1% for the planet") and they are in the process of having their entire line audited to certify their environmentally sustainable production practices - even down to the notions! (their fabrics are already certified.) They also have a fair trade transparency policy - they are certified as socially compliant and anyone can inspect their documentation. Overall, pretty impressive - especially in comparison to the alternatives! Even my darling husband was impressed - and it takes a lot to get him excited about a clothing store!! And you know what, the clothes are actually pretty decently priced too - especially when you consider that they are hand made (partly in Vancouver!). A lot of the eco-responsible clothing out there is pretty pricey - particularly those lines which are less hippy and more contemporary, so it is impressive to see Rio Rain trying to reach a larger audience rather than trying to make as much money as possible. They actually have a goal of reforming the industry - being an example to other clothing suppliers. I was listening to a podcast on HappyFrog.ca about the company and heard a little bit from its founder, Mark. He started the company after being in the clothing industry for a number of years. When his daughter, Rio Rain, was born he had sort of an epiphany that he wanted the world to be a better place for her and he realized that the industry he was a part of was a huge part of the problem (he mentioned that 25% of the chemicals produced in the world are for use in the clothing industry!). So he started Rio Rain in order to be a part of the solution. That's an inspiring story and I am excited to have this store as a shopping option.