£4·25 183 March/April 2020 www.ethicalconsumer.org

PLANT POWER

SHOPPING GUIDES TO l Plant Milk l Vegan Cheese l Dairy Milk l Bananas CAPITAL AT RISK. INVESTMENTS ARE LONG TERM AND MAY NOT BE READILY REALISABLE. ABUNDANCE IS AUTHORISED AND REGULATED BY THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY (525432).

add to your nest egg

without burning fossil fuels

abundance investment make good money 2 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 ETHICAL CONSUMER Editorial WHO’S WHO t’s great to start this issue’s detail at the climate impact of different THIS ISSUE’S EDITOR Tim Hunt editorial with some good news. For milks on page 33. PROOFING Ciara Maginness (Little Blue Pencil) WRITERS/RESEARCHERS Jane Turner, Tim Hunt, the first time in our long history However plant-based milks still make Rob Harrison, Anna Clayton, Joanna Long, we’ve broken the 10,000 paying- up just 4% of the milk market, with Josie Wexler, Ruth Strange, Mackenzie Denyer, Isubscriber barrier. Now it’s just a matter dairy milk accounting for 96% of sales. Clare Carlile, Francesca de la Torre, Alex Crumbie, of persuading some of the other 150,000 With this in mind we also decided to Tom Bryson REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Simon Birch, Colin Birch online readers to join our paying reader update our dairy milk report again this DESIGN Tom Lynton community! year. You won’t find any Best Buys in the LAYOUT Adele Armistead (Moonloft), Jane Turner Thanks to all those who have guide, as our feature on page 30 points COVER Tom Lynton supported us over this period. It’s been out the climate impact of dairy cattle CARTOONS Marc Roberts, Andy Vine, Mike Bryson a long road but it’s fantastic that we’ve makes it unsustainable in its current AD SALES Simon Birch reached this landmark in our 30th form. But we felt that it was important SUBSCRIPTIONS Elizabeth Chater, Francesca Thomas anniversary year. to draw attention to some of the issues PRESS ENQUIRIES Simon Birch, Tim Hunt Thanks also to the new members of in the market, not least the plight of ENQUIRIES Francesca Thomas our community who have subscribed the badgers, and showcase some truly WEB EDITOR Sophie Billington more recently. You’ve joined a alternative models of dairy farming. THANKS ALSO TO Marlous Veldt, Emma Kerrison committed group of readers who are In this issue we also cover another All material correct one month before cover date changing the world at the checkout and staple of the UK food shopper, bananas. and © Ethical Consumer Research Association beyond. They have a long and troubled history Ltd. ISSN 0955 8608 (see www.ethicalconsumer.org/banana- Printed with vegetable ink by RAP Spiderweb Ltd, More good news! republics-colonial-control) and human c/o the Commercial Centre, Clowes Centre, Hollinwood, Oldham OL9 7LY. 0161 947 3700 Since the last issue, we’ve released rights abuses are sadly still rife in the industry. Luckily Fairtrade and other PAPER 100% post-consumer waste, chlorine-free our annual ethical consumer markets and sourced from the only UK paper merchant report. For 20 years this has been a accreditation schemes have brought supplying only recycled papers – Paperback barometer of ethical spending in the some benefits especially to smallholders (www.paperbackpaper.co.uk) UK. Back in 1999, the total size of ethical in Latin America where the majority of RETAIL DISTRIBUTION is handled by Central Books consumer markets in the UK was just the UK’s bananas are imported from. on 0845 458 9911. Ethical Consumer is a member of INK £11.2bn. Today the figure is almost four Our Best Buy recommendations can (independent news collective), an association of times that at £41.1bn. We’d like to think make a real difference to the lives of radical and alternative publishers. that we’ve helped to nurture this market workers. www.ink.uk.com and have played some part in its growth We are a Living Wage employer, a multi-stakeholder (see page 42). Bruce Bingham co-op, and Fair Tax Mark accredited. We learned earlier this year that Bruce Latest guides Bingham had died in January at the In this issue we cover two markets that age of 56. Longer term subscribers and are set to grow exponentially over the supporters may remember his name next few years, that of plant milks from articles and other communications. and vegan cheese. Bruce worked for Ethical Consumer In 2019, 23% of UK for its first ten years between 1989 consumers used plant-based and 1999, at a time when the project milk alternatives, up from 19% was precarious and the pay was very ABOUT THE ADVERTISERS in 2018. For example oat low. His dedication to Ethical ECRA checks out advertisers before accepting their milk sales surged by 71% Consumer in these early years ads and reserves the right to refuse any advert last year, as consumers played an important part in COVERED IN PREVIOUS PRODUCT GUIDES Abundance bought over £36m worth helping it grow to where it is (177), Kingfisher Toothpaste (165), Mooncup of the dairy alternative. now. Thanks Bruce. (179), Natracare (179), Suma (178), Vegetarian Shoes (162), Wainwright’s Honey (183), Windmill The trend looks to set to Organics (178), Infinity Wholefoods (178). continue as the number OTHER ADVERTISERS Book Aid, Energy4All, Green of vegans, vegetarians Building Store, Investing Ethically, Shared and flexitarians continues Interest, Womankind. to rise in response to the TIM HUNT climate crisis. We look in EDITOR

WHAT IS ETHICAL CONSUMER? Democratise the market by enabling Push for wider political action and 2consumers to assert their own ethical 5legislative change. Ethical consumerism is We are an independent, not-for-profit, multi- values by using our shopping guides. not a replacement for other forms of political stakeholder co-operative founded in 1989 action. But it is an important additional way and based in Manchester. Our primary goal is Have a fully transparent ranking system. All for people to exert their influence. making global businesses more sustainable 3our data is available to subscribers. through consumer pressure. Our mission is to: HOW TO CONTACT US Engage with companies by telling them why Unit 21, 41 Old Birley Street, Manchester, M15 5RF Help consumers to challenge corporate we are buying or not buying their products. 4 0161 226 2929 — 10-5pm 1 power by using their economic vote every We also send them detailed questions about [email protected] — general time they go shopping. their policy and practice on ethical issues. [email protected] — subscriptions

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4 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 Ethical Consumer 1/4 page ad 0120.indd 1 16/01/2020 12:22 ETHICAL CONSUMER Contents

30 FEATURE SHOPPING GUIDES

30 How bad are meat and Plant Milk dairy for the climate? 10 Introduction including dairy milk & cheese vs plant milk & cheese 12 Score Table & Best Buys 14 Packaging

6 10

NEWS

06 Food & Home Supermarkets ranked on plastics 9 and pesticides, how to reduce your internet carbon footprint Vegan Cheese 08 Clothes 16 Introduction Milan fashion and diversity, join the fashion fast 17 Ingredients 18 Score Table & Best Buys 09 Climate BP lobbying, Cornwall drops gas Dairy Milk 42 Ethical Consumer Markets 21 Introduction Report the state of the ethical market 22 Score Table & Best Buys 23 The strain on cows and 44 Money farmers pensions & climate change, BlackRock divests from coal 27 Badger cull update 28 Doing dairy differently 45 Tax justice the tax avoidance of the silicon six 34 47 Boycotts Amazon, Kirin beer 21

50 REGULARS

43 Ethical Novice Trials and tribulations of trying to be ethical: Milk Bananas 34 Introduction 46 Subscriptions Subscribe or give a gift subscription 35 Workers’ rights abuses 36 Score Table & Best Buys 48 Letters A regular forum for readers’ views 38 Banana certification schemes 50 Inside view 39 Pesticides – how and why to Stitched Up – sustainable fashion project avoid them

ethicalconsumer.org 5 NEWS Food & home © Robin Markland Meat companies cash in on the vegan pound In the plant milk and vegan cheese guides we highlight the brands that are owned by non-vegan companies. Now two new meat-alternative brands have come onto the market that are owned by major meat companies.

The Green Butcher The Green Butcher brand of plant-based pork-like slices is owned by Tulip Ltd, the UK’s largest pig producer which has received continuous petitioning and protesting from animal rights activists over the years due to its inhumane practices. In January, Extinction Rebellion activists in Cornwall set up ‘crime Tulip’s sister company, Moy Park, supplies more than a quarter scenes’ in local supermarkets selling JBS corned beef. of the chicken eaten in the UK and has itself been fined for inhumane practices.1 allegations of high-level corruption, modern-day “slave labour” Tulip and Moy Park are both owned by Brazilian meat practices, illegal deforestation, animal welfare violations and company JBS, which has been repeatedly linked to the major hygiene breaches. In 2017 its holding company agreed to destruction of the Amazon rainforest. The world's largest pay one of the biggest fines in global corporate history — $3.2bn meatpacker, JBS has a history of buying cattle from farms that — after admitting bribing hundreds of politicians.1 were illegally deforested. In 2017, JBS was fined nearly US$8 Friends of the Earth recently traced corned beef on sale million for doing just that. in Co-op, Morrisons, Waitrose, Iceland and Lidl back to JBS The Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that in 2018 slaughterhouses in Brazil. At the same time, research group JBS slaughtered over 13 million animals every single day Earthsight said it found Sainsbury’s and Asda still stocked JBS and had an annual revenue of $50bn. It has been linked to products. In January, Extinction Rebellion activists in Cornwall set up ‘crime scenes’ in local supermarkets selling JBS corned beef.

Richmond meat-free sausages Richmond is best known for its meat-based sausages but recently launched meat-free ones. Richmond is owned by Kerry Foods, a meat and dairy company which also owns the Naked Glory range of meat-free alternatives.

References: 1. www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2019-07-02/jbs-brazilian-butchers-took- over-the-world

l Video auto-play – change your preferences on your phone, HOW TO REDUCE YOUR INTERNET laptop and tablet to no longer auto-play video. CARBON FOOTPRINT l Search engine use – every time you use a search engine It’s estimated the carbon emissions of internet usage are the data centre has to run the search for you which is on a par with the aviation industry, which emits around 1 computationally quite expensive (therefore requiring energy), it billion tonnes of greenhouse gases a year. If you compare the has to send you the data it finds and your device needs to display internet’s emissions with that of countries, it would be the that data to you. Use bookmarks in your browser or make a note world’s sixth-biggest polluter. of the things you use most often rather than searching for them Following on from broadband and email providers guides in again and again. the last issue, we have just published an article on our website 2. Reducing the amount of (dirty) electricity explaining how we can reduce our digital carbon footprint. consumed by our devices The article recommends two primary ways we can go about l Switch to a 100% renewable energy supplier – See our Gas taking action: and Electricity Suppliers guide to find out which are genuine. 1. Reduce the amount of data we’re using l Turn all devices off when they’re not in use – don’t leave unnecessarily and remove data waste your internet router, TV, laptop, TV box and PlayStation etc on l Email waste – every automated email we receive creates stand-by or sleep mode. Turn them off completely. a carbon emission through its generation in a data centre, l Put your mobile into airplane mode overnight so it’s not its travelling from the data centre to your device and your constantly seeking a data connection. Or better yet turn it off. device receiving it. Unsubscribe to anything you are no longer l Use wired connections over wireless ones and use 3G or 4G interested in. rather than WiFi. Wireless technologies use considerably more l Media streaming – on-demand media such as Spotify or power. Netflix also have a cost. Video has an especially heavy cost with Read the full article at the average 90 minute film being 1GB. Download or get hard www.ethicalconsumer.org/technology/hidden-cost-our-digital- copies instead of streaming them multiple times. habits-easy-ways-reduce-our-impact

6 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 NEWS Food & home Supermarket news

Supermarkets and place. Sainsbury’s announced plans to reduce plastic by 50%, and introduced their plastic footprint reusable produce bags for loose fruit A new report ‘Checking Out on Plastics and vegetables. This came as tens of II: Breakthroughs and backtracking from thousands of customers took action supermarkets’, has revealed that seven of against them for their plastic apathy. the top 10 supermarkets have increased the plastic packaging they use, also Bags for life known as their ‘plastic footprint’ – despite A big area for improvement is plastic public commitments to cut down. bags. While the 5p charge may have Companies at the top of the 2019 driven down demand for carrier bags, it’s league table were Waitrose and just shifted the problem. Supermarkets Morrisons, who performed best in making sold 1.5 billion ‘bags for life’ last year – enthusiastic commitments to scale-up roughly 54 per UK household. packaging-free and reuse solutions. Campaigners say that by charging Waitrose also achieved an actual decrease more for bags for life, giving discounts to in their plastic footprint this year, along those who reuse them or bring in their www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/ with Tesco and Sainsbury’s. own reusable bags, supermarkets could supermarkets-more-plastic-than-ever Sainsbury’s were one of the big reduce demand. Read the full report at climbers this year. Having come bottom of Sign the petition telling supermarkets https://eia-international.org/report/ the league last year, they now sit in third to ditch plastic packaging at checking-out-on-plastics-ii

Ranking supermarkets on pesticides

Pesticides Action Network (PAN) have to use pesticides to make the produce look items to prioritise, you can download PAN’s surveyed and ranked the top ten UK cosmetically perfect ‘Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen’ lists (www. supermarkets. They found that they could l Buy local, seasonal vegetables because pan-uk.org/dirty-dozen-and-clean-fifteen) all be doing more to reduce pesticide- generally the shorter a supply chain is, which show what produce has been found related harms in their global supply the less pesticides (especially fungicides) to contain the most and least residues. chains. will be needed to preserve the produce l Tell your supermarket to take action on PAN suggest a number of things that through the transportation process. Plus pesticides – http://pan-uk.eaction.org.uk/ consumers can do including: the EU has the highest standards on supermarkets l Buy the wonkiest vegetables possible pesticides in the world See the full details on the ranking at www. to show supermarkets that they don’t need l Buy organic if you can. To know which pan-uk.org/supermarkets

OXFAM TARGETS LIDL OVER HUMAN RIGHTS

Last year we reported on Oxfam’s ranking of how six supermarkets check out on protecting the farmers and workers who supply them. Lidl came at the bottom of the ranking with only 16%. The highest scoring supermarket, Tesco, got 38%. Lidl does not have sufficient public policies on human rights and they are the only supermarket not to have joined the Ethical Trading Initiative, a UK-based independent body which monitors members’ supply chains in accordance with an ethical code. Oxfam is now asking people to sign the petition asking Lidl to do more to protect the people who produce the food they sell – www.oxfamapps.org. uk/behindthebarcodes/lidl

ethicalconsumer.org 7 NEWS Clothes Milan’s Fashion A fashion fast to oppose fast fashion Chamber adopts manifesto to improve diversity

Over 100 members of Milan’s National Fashion Chamber adopted a manifesto in January which aims to improve rates of racial and gender diversity within the industry. The move comes a year after leading Italian fashion brands faced criticism regarding racially and culturally insensitive designs, including the use of blackface by Gucci and Prada. Milan is recognised as one of the fashion capitals of the world, however, dissimilar to its counterpart fashion- capitals, London, New York, and Paris, Milan is considered to be greatly lagging Campaign group Labour Behind the choose six items from your wardrobe and behind in terms of its diversity, both on Label are hosting a six-week sponsored only wear these for six weeks. and off the runway. challenge that encourages people to get to The idea is that your day-to-day The new diversity manifesto offered by know their own wardrobe whilst raising essential items must derive from the the country’s National Fashion Chamber money for garment workers around the initial six chosen. Of course, there are aims to increase racial and gender globe. exceptions to the rule. You have unlimited diversity within all sectors of the multi- Labour Behind the Label raise access to underwear, accessories, active billion-dollar industry. public awareness of inequalities and wear for fitness, and footwear. The manifesto calls for representations mistreatment of workers occurring Campaigners say that not only will this of varying ideas of beauty on the runway, throughout the fashion supply chain. challenge help people to acknowledge as well as gender diversification in the top Their aim is to expose injustices within the capacity of our current wardrobes, roles of fashion houses. the fashion industry, such as poverty showing consumers that an expansive There has been some criticism that wages, forced overtime, and unsafe clothing collection is not necessary, but the manifesto lacks hard commitments, working conditions. As part of their efforts will also help to raise vital funds. Money especially with the large fashion house to raise awareness, they are encouraging will enable the campaign group to fight Dolce & Gabbana notably missing from people to pledge to undergo a six-week against injustice occurring within the the adoptees. Yet campaigners say that fashion ‘fast’ between 26 February and 9 global fashion supply chain. this starting point is necessary and a long April 2020. Sign up to the challenge http:// time coming. To take part in the challenge, you must everydayhero.co.uk/event/six-items-2020

UK FAST FASHION FACTORIES ARE A “NATIONAL SHAME”

On the 21st January 2020, questions were raised in parliament by MP for North West Leicestershire, Andrew Bridgen, regarding the state of the UK’s fast fashion factories, and the mistreatment of their workers. After visiting factories in Leicester, Bridgen branded working conditions a “national shame”. Workers from Leicester described illegal practices occurring in their places of work. They reported pay slips incorrectly labelled to show that workers are paid £7.50 an hour for 16 hours, whereas many workers will actually be working 40 hours a week and will only be paid £500 for the entire month; this equates to little over £3 an hour. This is not the first time that issues regarding garment worker treatment in the UK have been raised. In November 2019, a scoping survey found evidence that textile and garment workers in the Greater Manchester region were paid as little as £3-4 / hr. Despite these detailed accounts of injustice being presented to the UK government, last year, and as recently as January, recommendations to implement forced transparency within fashion supply chains have been refused. Meanwhile, the current business minister, Kelly Tolhurst, asserts that HM

Revenue and Customs enforce the national living wage. © Charleneljz | Dreamstime.com

8 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 NEWS Climate Extinction Rebellion turns Siemens into a climate crime scene

Extinction Rebellion UK members turned Siemens’ London office into a ‘crime scene’ on the 16 January, following its decision to continue providing railway signalling services to the Adani coal mine in Queensland, Australia. Wearing forensic suits and red gloves, ‘police officers’ created a ‘police cordon’ around the entrance to the building while ‘victims’ dressed in black lay on the ground. A banner was dropped from a window in the building saying ‘Climate Change Kills Children’ while another bore the words ‘Siemens = Climate Criminals’. The controversial Adani development Helena Smith

has the potential to produce enough coal © to cause more than 705 million tonnes of C02 to be emitted each year – about 1.3 times Australia’s total current emissions. Siemens CEO Joe Kaesner responded: This comment was, ironically, made whilst So far 57 companies have withdrawn bids "While I do have a lot of empathy for Australian fires continued to burn, causing or refused to work on the mine. environmental matters, I do need to what scientists are describing as an ecosystem In response to widespread criticism balance different interests of different and species apocalypse in Australia. from the ‘Stop Adani’ campaign and the stakeholders, as long as they have lawful To support the #StopAdani campaign visit: Fridays for Future youth movement, legitimation for what they do.”1 www.stopadani.com

TRUMP WEAKENS ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION FOLLOWING BP LOBBYING An investigation by Unearthed, year old National Environmental Policy may now find it easier to move forward. Greenpeace’s independent journalism Act (NEPA) so that the climate impacts Mel Evans, senior oil campaigner team, reveals how BP successfully of major fossil fuel projects largely fall for Greenpeace UK, commented: “The lobbied the Trump administration to outside its scope. oil industry insists it has a right to weaken environmental laws – making Projects such as the Keystone XL oil dictate how the world fights the climate it potentially harder to block major new pipeline and the auctioning of hundreds emergency, and how quickly change oil and gas projects on climate change of thousands of acres of oil and gas happens. But this shows that for all their grounds. leases in Wyoming have been delayed by lip service to the energy transition, BP The oil giant, together with the federal judges on the grounds that their and the rest of the sector are focusing American Petroleum Institute (API), climate impacts have not been adequately their efforts on blocking real action to cut lobbied the White House to reform the 50- assessed under NEPA. Projects like these emissions and stabilise our climate.”

Climate Action Lab CORNWALL COUNCIL DROPS GAS IN Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking is running an innovative NEW BUILDS Climate Action Lab in March with Mike Berners Lee – author of ‘There Is No Planet B’. Following Cornwall Council’s climate emergency declaration, This intensive 2 ½ day course will look at how individuals and it is seeking alternative ways of heating and powering new business can tackle the all-important question of climate change homes, dropping gas in all new builds in favour of solar within our daily lives with the aim of each participant leaving heating, air-source heat pumps and ground-source heat with a personalised 10-point plan to put into action. pumps. Ethical Consumer, The Soil Association, Business Its development company, Treveth, is overseeing this Declares, Good Energy and Triodos Bank are just some of the investment programme. This initiative forms part of the organisations running sessions during this course, with the council’s Climate Change Plan that aims to support Cornwall following subjects being explored: energy, food systems, finance, in becoming carbon neutral by 2030.2 procurement, and plastics. For more information and to book a place visit: www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk/event/climate-change-action-lab References: 1. https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/siemens-stares-down-thunberg- or call 01453 759034. Prices start from £270 with residential and supporters-votes-to-stick-with-adani-project-20200113-p53qxy.html 2. http://www. non-residential options. publicsectorexecutive.com/News/carbon-neutral-cornwall

ethicalconsumer.org 9 SHOPPING GUIDE Plant milk Milking plants for all they’re worth

JOSIE WEXLER looks at the virtues and vices of plant milks.

lmost a quarter of the UK population now drinks plant milk, and there are now a huge range of different plants Aqueuing up at the milking station. Here are some of those on offer: l The beans: soya, pea, chickpea. l The cereals: rice, oat, millet, barley, buckwheat, spelt, quinoa, hemp. l The nuts and seeds: almond, coconut, cashew, hazelnut, Brazil nut, tiger nut, walnut, sesame. There is now also a massive array of brands out there – sadly, too many for us to cover all of them. However, this guide looks at the most widely available ones, and the ethical issues to watch out for with each milk.

The environmental and social impacts The climate impacts are discussed separately on page 33.

Soya It is worth reiterating that most soya is fed to animals and not consumed Rice international producers being directly by people. Rice has a higher greenhouse gas impact Indonesia, the Philippines and India. However, given that soya is associated than other cereals due to the methane Coconut is not associated with with deforestation in South America, produced by the flooded rice paddies. deforestation like palm oil or soya. consumers may want to choose a brand However, it isn’t really clear if it makes However, tree crops (cocoa is another that sources from elsewhere. The much difference to the carbon footprint example) grown in the poorer parts of the companies statements on where their of rice milk – some analyses find it world are often associated with poverty. soya comes from can be seen in the box somewhat bigger than the other plant One reason is that they take years to opposite. milks, but some don’t. Either way, it still establish, and after you’ve invested in For more on the impacts of soya see comes out as better for the climate than them you’re pretty much stuck and have our feature ‘Is soya sustainable’ at dairy milk. (See page 33). to just keep harvesting them, no matter www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/ For more discussion of the ethical what you’re getting for them. This tends to soya-sustainable. issues around rice, see our recent guide to lead to low and volatile prices, and most rice online. coconut farmers are very poor. A fully Fairtrade, with its floor price and a referenced version of Coconut price premium, was partly designed this Product Coconut is largely grown by to help with this issue. Lucy Bee sells Guide is on our website smallholders, with the biggest Fairtrade coconut milk.

10 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 Sources soya for plant milks from outside South America

The Bridge, Isola Bio Soya comes from Italy Another issue that afflicts almonds is Sojade, Sojasun Soya comes from France that Californian almond farmers often Plamil “Our soya milk uses organic soya grown in the EU” use a lot of pesticides, including ones that have clouds hanging over their effects on Provamel “Our organic, non-GMO soya beans come from Europe, mainly from France, Italy and Austria” bees and human health. Luckily, all of the almond milk Alpro “We source our beans directly from farms where soya beans companies sell organic almond milk apart have been grown for many years, mainly France and subject to usual crop rotations. None of these farms are on land that has from Blue Diamond, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, been reclaimed or deforested. In the past where we did source Asda and Morrisons. We discuss organic our beans from Brazil, they were also not from rainforest or deforested areas" food in general on our website here: www. ethicalconsumer.org/why-shop-ethically/ ASDA Says that its beans are sourced from Spain why-buy-organic. The use of bees to Waitrose Says that its beans are sourced from the UK pollinate California’s almond monocrops Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Tesco Say that their soya milk is produced in the EU or the UK, but it is also thought by some to be putting bees was not possible to determine whether this refers to the origin under a lot of stress. Many companies of the beans specify that they get their almonds from No info Europe, not California, including Alpro, Provamel, The Bridge, EcoMil and Isola Soya Soleil No info found, but it is owned by Alpro Bio. Rude Health Describes its soya as “sustainably sourced” but no further Californian almond growing is information could be found. undeniably problematic in various ways. EcoMil, Granovita, Holland & No info found. However, it is hard not to find it slightly Barrett, Co-op, Aldi, Lidl, M&S weird that so many of the articles on this have headlines aimed specifically at the milk alone: “The deadly truth behind Oats, peas & chickpeas pest and weed resistant, and it uses little your almond milk obsession”; “Almond Pea is one of the newest plant milks water and nutrients. It has struggled milk: quite good for you – very bad for currently gaining a following in the UK. legally due to its brother the cannabis the planet”; “Lay off the almond milk, you It isn’t green – its made from yellow split plant, and the US only legalised growing ignorant hipsters”. Almonds are also used peas. It has been praised for tasting a lot it in 2018. in lots of other foods (it wasn’t possible to like dairy milk. find figures for the proportions). Oats, peas and chickpeas are all grown Almond in cool climates. Their sustainability Almond milk has been subject to a The best milk profile is pretty good. Peas and chickpeas deluge of negative media articles over It isn’t very easy to recommend a milk are nitrogen fixing, and so they have the past few years, a lot of them focusing as the best in sustainability terms. The a particularly excellent sustainability on water use. Over 80% of the world’s main thing is to get the most ethical profile. almonds are grown in California, which version of each one, and remember The pesticide glyphosate is sometimes has been in a severe drought for much of that they are all substantially better sprayed on oats, and the Guardian the last decade. for the environment than dairy milk. recently reported on a study by the US- However, while almond trees are Their climate and land impacts are based Environmental Working Group that certainly thirsty, it’s worth keeping this much smaller (see page 33 for details), found glyphosate in most oat-based foods, in proportion. Not only does it also take their water use is less, their impact on including organic ones. The situation in plenty of water to produce dairy milk biodiversity is less. Europe is different from the US, but traces (some analyses put it at similar, some of glyphosate have indeed been found more, and some less than almond milk), in many foods here, including oats, soya but the comparison is pertinent to beans, peas, buckwheat and wheat. California, which produces more dairy Oatly guarantees that its oat milk is milk than almonds (in dollar terms) and glyphosate free. uses less of its water to grow almonds than it uses to grow alfalfa Hemp for livestock feed. Hemp gets a pretty universally good sustainability write up. It is naturally

ethicalconsumer.org 11 USING THE TABLES Environment Animals People Politics +ve USING THE TABLES Ethiscore: the higher the score, the Positive ratings (+ve): better the company. Scored out of 14. Plus up to 1 extra point for Company Company Ethos: Ethos and up to 5 extra points for = full mark Product Sustainability. e E = half mark Green (good) = 12+ Product Sustainability: Amber (average) = 11.5–5 Various positive marks available Red (poor) = 4.5–0 depending on sector. H = worst rating h = middle rating

= best rating/no Sustainability criticisms found Best Buys are highlighted in blue

BRAND 14 + 6 extras) (out of Ethiscore tal Reporting Environmen Change Climate & Toxics Pollution Habitats & Resources Oil Palm Animal Testing Farming Factory Animal Rights Human Rights Rights Workers’ Chain Management Supply Marketing Irresponsible Arms & Military Supply Technologies Controversial Call Boycott Activity Political Finance Anti-Social Ethos Company Product COMPANY GROUP

Lucy Bee coconut [O&F] 17 e 2 Lucy Bee Ltd Plamil soya [O] 16 e 1 Plamil Foods Ltd Good Hemp 15 e Braham & Murray Rebel Kitchen [O] 15 H e 1 Craze Foods Ltd The Bridge [O] 14.5 H h e 1 The Bridge SRL EcoMil [O] 14 H H e 1 Nutriops SL Oatly oat [O] 13.5 h H H e 1 Havre Global AG Rude Health [O] 13.5 H h 1 Rude Health Foods Ltd

Sproud pea 13 H H e WMake AB Granovita soya [O] 12.5 H h H 1 Dr A Stoffel Holding AG

Vita Coco coconut 12.5 H H h e All Market Inc. Blue Diamond almond 12 H H H e Blue Diamond Growers Koko coconut 11.5 H H h H e First Grade International Ltd Isola Bio [O] 10.5 h h H H h h h 1 Wessanen/PAI Partners Sojade soya [O] 10.5 H H H H h 1 Triballat Noyal Sojasun soya 9.5 H H H H h Triballat Noyal

Co-op [O] 7 H h h h h H H h H h H h E 1 Co-operative Group Ltd Dream [O] 6.5 H h H H H h H h h h H 1 Hain Celestial Group Inc Holland & Barrett soya [O] 6.5 H H h H H H H H H 1 LetterOne

Co-op soya 6 H h h h h H H h H h H h E Co-operative Group Ltd Marks & Spencer 6 h H h h H H H H h h h Marks & Spencer Group Plc Dream 5.5 H h H H H h H h h h H Hain Celestial Group Ltd Alpro [O] 5 h h h H H H H h h H h H H 1 Group Danone Provamel [O] 5 h h h H H H H h h H h H H 1 Group Danone Aldi Actileaf 4.5 h h H H h H H H h H h h h Siepmann Stiftung

Waitrose soya 4.5 h h H H h h H H H H H h h E John Lewis Partnership Alpro 4 h h h H H H H h h H h H H Group Danone Soya Soleil soya 4 h h h H H H H h h H h H H Group Danone Lidl 3.5 h h H H h h H H H H h h h H Schwarz Group Morrisons [O] 3 h H H H h H H H h H h H h h H 1 Wm Morrison Plc Tesco [O] 2.5 H H H h H H H H H H H H H 1 Tesco Plc Sainsbury’s 2 h H H H h h H H H H h H H H J Sainsbury Plc Morrisons 2 h H H H h H H H h H h H h h H Wm Morrison Plc Tesco 1.5 H H H h H H H H H H H H H Tesco Plc Asda [O] 1 h H H H h H H H H H H H H h H H 1 Walmart Inc Asda 0 h H H H h H H H H H H H H h H H Walmart Inc

[O] = organic certified [F] = Fairtrade certified All the research behind these ratings is onwww.ethicalconsumer.org Definitions of all the categories are at www.ethicalconsumer.org/our-ethical-ratings.

m nsu er o .o c r l g Best Buys are decided by the editorial team based on the research we have undertaken, the scoring system and the unique

a insight into the issues that our editorial team has. 9 times out of 10 this will be the brand (or brands) that are top of the table but

c

i

h t sometimes an ethical company which is truly innovative scores less well on our rigid scoring system and we use the Best Buy and

e Y Recommended section to acknowledge this. A company cannot be a Best Buy if it scores worst for Supply Chain Management. BES T BU

12 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 SHOPPING GUIDE

Plant Milk sume n r o .o c r l g

a

c

WHO SELLS WHAT i

h BEST t

Aldi (Acti leaf), Alpro, Asda, Blue Diamond, Dream, e Y Almond B U EcoMil, Isola Bio, Lidl, Morrisons, Provamel, Rude Health, BUYS ES T B Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Bridge

Barley Isola Bio Our Best buys are Lucy Bee, Plamil, Brazil nut The Bridge Good Hemp and The Bridge. Buckwheat Isola Bio, The Bridge Cashew Alpro, Isola Bio, EcoMil, Provamel, Rude Health Lucy Bee Chickpea The Bridge 17 Coconut Alpro, Dream, EcoMil, Isola Bio, Koko, Lucy Bee, Marks and Spencer, Provamel, Rude Health, The Bridge, Vita Coco Hazelnut Alpro, Isola Bio, EcoMil, Rude Health Hemp EcoMil, Good Hemp Millet Isola Bio Oat Alpro, Asda, Dream, EcoMil, Isola Bio, Marks and Spencer, Oatly, Provamel, Rude Health, The Bridge Pea Sproud Quinoa EcoMil, The Bridge Plamil Rice Alpro, Dream, EcoMil, Isola Bio, Provamel, Rude Health, The Bridge 16 Soya Alpro, Aldi (Acti leaf), Asda, Co-op, Granovita, Holland & Barrett, Isola Bio, Lidl, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Plamil, Provamel, Rude Health, Sainsbury’s, Sojade, Sojasun, Soya Soleil, Tesco, The Bridge, Waitrose. Good Spelt EcoMil, Isola Bio, The Bridge Hemp Tigernut EcoMil, Rude Health 15 Own mix of rice, cashew and Rebel Kitchen coconut Powders: chestnut, sesame, EcoMil soya, walnut

The l Rude Health makes porridge and Bridge Table highlights snack biscuits as well as plant milk, a few of which contain dairy products. 14.5 Vegan companies Although most of its products are vegan, The following companies are fully vegan: the company has created controversy by Lucy Bee, Plamil, Good Hemp (Braham writing blog posts which are very critical Lucy Bee sells exclusively coconut milk & Murray), Rebel Kitchen (Craze Foods), of veganism. – all of it Fairtrade and Organic. Plamil The Bridge, EcoMil (Nutriops), Oatly l Wessanen, which makes Isola Bio, sells exclusively organic soya milk. (Havre Global), Sproud (WMake), Blue makes 96% of its revenue from vegetarian Good Hemp sells exclusively hemp. The Diamond, Vita Coco (All Market Inc) and products, but not 100%. Bridge sells pretty much everything Koko (First Grade International). l Granovita’s parent Hugli also owns turned into a milk, all of it organic: Natur Compagnie which sells meat and almond, oat, soya, coconut, rice, Non-vegan companies dairy products. buckwheat, spelt, Brazil nut, chickpea Besides the supermarkets, the following and quinoa. companies are not vegan: Palm oil All of these companies are wholly l Sojade and Sojasun are owned by The milks themselves do not contain vegan and have ethics embedded Triballat Noyal which also specialises in palm oil. However, the companies that across all of their activities. French cheese. make them sometimes use palm oil in l Soya Soleil, Alpro, Provamel are all other things. owned by Group Danone, which also sells Of the companies that get a best palm both dairy and meat products. oil rating, the following are palm oil free: RECOMMENDED l Dream is owned by Hain Celestial Lucy Bee, Good Hemp (Braham & Murray), which also owns Linda McCartney, Sun Rebel Kitchen (Craze Foods), The Bridge, Pat and Tilda rice. It sells a number of EcoMil (Nutriops), Sproud (WMake), Rude Rebel Kitchen, EcoMil, Oatly, Rude meat products, such as Ethnic Gourmet Health, Blue Diamond, Vita Coco, Sojade Health and Sproud also do well. curry. and Sojasun.

ethicalconsumer.org 13 SHOPPING GUIDE Plant milk

Those who get a best rating but are not palm oil free are: l Plamil (all palm oil is “sourced from a non-Asian organic and sustainable RSPO supply chain that has been independently audited”). l Isola Bio/Wessanen (all palm oil is RSPO certified, and most comes from Latin America where it is not associated with deforestation). l M&S (all palm oil is certified, most by the more stringent types of certification, and the company is involved in positive initiatives). l Alpro/Soya Soleil/Provamel/Danone (nearly all of the company’s palm oil is certified, it is involved in positive initiatives and provides details of all of its suppliers).

A coffee curdling problem? Plant milks may curdle in coffee because it is acidic, which makes the protein molecules clump together. Dairy milk is more tolerant as it contains different proteins, which gives it a higher ‘curdle point’. Tofu is curdled soya milk – you can basically end up with a coffee con tofu. There isn’t a single solution because the likelihood of coagulation is affected by an annoyingly large number of things: the type of coffee (some are more acidic than Packaging However, obviously, climate change is others), how strong you make it, the type not the only issue, resources and pollution of plant milk, the additives in it, and the The vast majority of plant milks are issues also matter. temperature. sold in cartons, although there are a few Beverage cartons are recyclable, Some brands add acidity regulators brands that use plastic bottles. Good but not back into cartons. The card can like potassium phosphates (dipotassium Hemp, for example, sells in both. be recycled into paper, and the plastic/ phosphate or monopotassium Most beverage cartons are made by aluminium layer can be turned into phosphate), stabilisers or emulsifiers to the Swedish company Tetra Pak, and the building materials like roof sheets. prevent the curdling. company name has become synonymous Globally, only about 26% of them are Calcium, often with the product. But there are actually recycled (figures are not available for the added to replace some other companies that make them, UK). UK carton recycling facilities have the calcium in dairy such as Elopak and SIG Combibloc. been very poor but have been getting milk, may also The cartons are about 75% card, but better – the first UK dedicated facility, reduce it. Several this is layered with plastic (polyethylene) which is near Halifax, opened in 2013. brands have specific and, in the ones that are designed to They are now collected at the kerbside in ‘Barista’ versions. preserve liquids outside of the fridge, a most of the UK. Other suggestions thin layer of aluminium. Plastic bottle recycling is more on the Internet embedded, and about 57% of them are include putting a tiny The environmental impact of the recycled in the UK. You can theoretically pinch of bicarbonate packaging recycle them back into plastic bottles, of soda into the In terms of carbon, the carton is a small but not infinitely – plastic degrades each coffee to reduce the proportion of your plant milk’s footprint. time you melt it. And they aren’t sturdy acidity, or adding the A litre Tetra Pak carton has a carbon enough to withstand the sterilisation that coffee to the plant footprint of around 40 grams, which would be required for them to be reused milk rather than the is about 3-6% of the footprint of the commercially without melting. Most other way around to contents. And it is around three or four recycled bottles are turned into polyester help the milk adapt times less than plastic bottles, which fibre – used for clothing and furnishings. more gradually. take much more energy to make. Obviously, bottles contain much more

14 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 plastic. And while you can save a lot of energy by recycling plastic bottles, in the best-case scenario in terms of the amount of recycling likely to happen, their carbon footprint only attains levels similar to the worst-case scenario for cartons. Overall, it seems pretty clear that cartons are the better option. However, if you make your own plant milk you can avoid the whole issue of Tetra Paks and plastic bottles. Store your homemade milks in a reusable glass bottle. Here is a recipe from our website for oat milk.

MAKE YOUR OWN OAT MILK Nutrition l Soak one cup of oats in water for at Mammal milk is intended as the sole least 15 mins or overnight. food source for young mammals and is l Drain water. therefore uniquely nutritious. As adults l Blend oats in blender with 3 cups we also eat a lot of other things, so we water, a pinch of salt and a little vanilla have no real need for the thing we put essence. in our coffee to be some super-charged Grams of protein per 100 ml l If you want a sweetened version, nutrient fiesta. Cow 3.5 add a couple of dates. However, while you may not think l Strain through a sieve (a normal of your cuppa as an important protein Soya 3–3.5 sieve used for baking is fine). source, there are academics pointing out Pea, chickpea 2-3 l The remaining oats can be used in that milk does supply protein, and if you Almond, cashew, hazel, brazil 0.5-1 pancakes, porridge, smoothies etc. don’t get it from there, you will need to get nut, spelt, buckwheat, millet, l Keep the finished oat milk in the it from somewhere else. barley, quinoa, hemp, tiger nut fridge in a glass milk bottle or screw The amount of protein in plant milks Oat 0.2 top jar. varies by brand. But indicative figures can Rice, coconut be seen in the table here: 0.1

Companies behind the brands

Lucy Bee is a UK ethical retailer that sells Fairtrade organic skincare and beauty products, spices, and coconut-based products, including coconut milk. It was started by Lucy Buckingham (aka ‘Bee’) to sell coconut oil, before expanding its range. You can buy its coconut milk in various supermarkets, including ASDA and Morrisons, as well as independent shops. The Bridge is an Italian vegan and organic company which makes plant milks, creams and desserts. Its products are mostly sold by independent shops. Sproud is a Swedish company, launched in 2018, that makes pea milk and vegan protein supplements. Its pea milk is sold at Waitrose and in independent shops. Group Danone is the company behind Alpro, Soya Soleil and Provamel. Provamel focuses on organic foods, Soya Soleil on just soya products. Group Danone is a French multinational which bats on both sides of the animal/ plant milk fence. Its other brands include Activia, Actimel, Shape, Cow and Gate, Evian, and Volvic. However, the company did do slightly better in the most recent ‘Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare’ report, having moved up to tier 2 (“Integral to business strategy”) out of 6. Danone has also been accused of engaging in unethical marketing of infant formula in China, Indonesia, Turkey, and India. Baby Milk Action is thus running a DanoNO campaign aimed at the company. It also accuses of Danone of dishonest underhand practices using a website called www.first1000days.ie. The website, which promotes breastfeeding, is run secretly by Danone. Readers are asked to sign up to receive emails, and Baby Milk Action claims that the company then uses their data to target them with adverts for formula.

ethicalconsumer.org 15 SHOPPING GUIDE Vegan cheese Vegan cheese gets real

RUTH STRANGE finds out ith the rise in veganism, Cashing in on the what vegan cheeses (and their the choice, quality and availability of vegan cheese vegan tide makers) are really made of. has increased significantly The non-vegan companies making Win the last 10 years, and this is our first vegan cheese guide on the subject. As well as supermarkets, other non- As more and more people turn to vegan companies have also entered the plant-based alternatives, partly in market. Food giant Nestlé has recently response to the role of animal farming bought up a vegan cheese company in the climate crisis, the market has called Daiya and is planning to start responded, showing the selling to European and US restaurants power of consumer this year but it’s not in UK shops, yet. demand. Various other examples are on our In 2012, a vegan table on page: company based on l Vitalite is owned by Dairy Crest, the island of Bute which also makes Cathedral City and in Scotland began Davidstow dairy cheese and a variety of making an own- dairy spreads including Utterly Butterly, brand block of vegan Clover and Country Life. In 2019, Dairy cheese for Tesco. They Crest was bought by Saputo, a Canadian Vegan cheese now make it for all the global cheese company which processes supermarkets on this score approximately 11 billion litres of milk a has come table. Vegan cheese has gone mainstream. year. Alongside supermarkets you can l Violife is a vegan cheese brand from a long way also find a much wider variety of vegan Greece, which has been going since the cheeses in wholefood and health food 1990s, but was bought by Upfield in 2019. but is not a shops, and online. This includes a Upfield was previously the food spreads growing number of cultured vegan division of Unilever, renamed when it was new thing. cheeses, made using traditional cheese- bought by global investment firm KKR in making techniques and ripened for at 2018. KKR currently has investments in Fermented least a few weeks. We’ve found that many pharmaceutical companies which test on of these are also made from organically animals, and a company that produces tofu was used grown ingredients which is even better meat products. news for the environment. l Applewood is primarily a dairy cheese to make non- Ask an older vegan if they used blocks brand from Somerset, now owned of vegan cheese 20 years ago and they by Norway’s largest dairy producer. dairy ‘cheese’ would probably say when they did it was It released a vegan cheese in 2019 in with hesitation. It simply wasn’t very collaboration with Vbites. in 16th good, or that widely available. l Mozzarisella is an organic rice-based You could buy shakers of Parmezano cheese, owned by Frescolat, a dairy century China. (a vegan alternative to Parmesan) or use cheese company from Italy. Engevita flakes made from nutritional l Tofutti Brands is a vegetarian company yeast (which are still available) to make a that makes a range of dairy alternatives A fully cheesy sauce or to shake onto pasta. Or but does use eggs in one product. referenced you could grate a block of vegan cheese The companies above lose marks version of this Product and mix it with vegan mayo for a cheesy under both Animal Rights and Factory Guide is on spread. Farming, for using animal ingredients our website Things have, thankfully, come a long which are not organic or free range (or way since. not entirely in the case of Mozzarisella’s

16 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 parent company). They also lose marks New Roots is one of several companies under Controversial Technologies for the now making vegan likely use of genetically modified animal cheeses from cashew feed. nuts, using traditional fermentation techniques. Ingredients

The first commercially available blocks of vegan cheese were processed from soya. These days most of the cheaper and more widely available brands are processed from coconut oil, probably largely to achieve a melting quality. The cultured vegan cheeses tend to be more expensive than the processed kinds, partly because they are made from more expensive ingredients such as organic Lower impact than invest in their communities, in projects cashew nuts. such as healthcare, education, agricultural dairy training or business development. As well as side-stepping the animal One company in this guide using fair welfare concerns of dairy products (see trade coconut oil was Mouse’s Favourite. our Dairy milk guide on page 21), plant- based alternatives do, on average, have Cashews much lower environmental impacts Cashew nuts are the seed of a fruit, and than dairy in terms of greenhouse gas if the shells are split by hand without emissions, water and land use. We have protection, the acids used can burn covered this in more detail in our feature the skin, leading to severe pain and on page 33. even permanent damage. The charity Traidcraft Exchange reported on this in 2013 after finding evidence in India, Workers’ rights and stated in 2018 that they believed the situation was still the same. Two key ingredients of most vegan Of the companies featured in this guide cheeses are coconut and cashew nuts. that use cashew nuts: Both are imported from countries in l Happy Cheeze stated that its supplier Asia and Africa, with poor workers’ used machines for cracking the cashews. rights legislation. Below we explain l New Roots named its two suppliers, one some of the issues associated with these of which discussed safe working conditions Palm oil raw materials. on its website, and the other was also fair trade and had a committee of elected The only brand which used palm oil in Coconuts worker representatives. its vegan cheese blocks was Cheezly. Coconut farmers often live in extreme l Tyne Chease said the majority of its This palm oil was listed on the label poverty, averaging about $1 a day cahsews were fair trade. Its supplier’s as ‘sustainable’, which the company throughout the year. As trees age, poor website stated that it carried out regular confirmed means it is certified by farmers won’t always have the resources audits on ethical standards and working the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm needed to replace them, or to pay for conditions. Oil (RSPO), and so received a middle medical care or education for their l Mouse’s Favourite said it relied on its rating. However, the RSPO has received families. Fair trade is one response, wholesale supplier to make the necessary numerous criticisms including a recent allowing farmers to earn a premium to checks. Greenpeace report which called it a con, so it certainly does not offer full reassurance. Cheezly do now also have a new range of ‘allergen-free’ vegan cheeses which do not contain palm oil. WHAT ARE VEGAN CHEESES MADE OF? Other company groups used palm oil Coconut oil (usually about 20%, Applewood, Cheezly new allergen-free, Green Vie, in other products. Brands affected were plus potato or maize starch) Koko, Sheese, Violife, Vitalite, Supermarket own brands Koko and Tofutti which received worst ratings due to lack of information, and Cashew (organic) Happy Cashew, Mouse’s Favourite (plus fair trade coconut oil), New Roots, Tyne Chease Violife and Vitalite which received middle ratings. All the supermarkets received Rice (organic) Mozzarisella (also contains organic coconut oil) a middle rating except Ocado, which Palm oil (plus potato starch) Cheezly original (also contains soya) received a worst rating due to lack of information. Soya Tofutti

ethicalconsumer.org 17 SHOPPING GUIDE Vegan cheese

USING THE TABLES Environment Animals People Politics +ve USING THE TABLES Ethiscore: the higher the score, the Positive ratings (+ve): better the company. Scored out of 14. Plus up to 1 extra point for Company Company Ethos: Ethos and up to 5 extra points for = full mark Product Sustainability. e E = half mark Green (good) = 12+ Product Sustainability: Amber (average) = 11.5–5 Various positive marks available Red (poor) = 4.5–0 depending on sector. H = worst rating h = middle rating = best rating/no criticisms found Best Buys are highlighted in blue

BRAND 14 + 6 extras) (out of Ethiscore Reporting Environmental Change Climate & Toxics Pollution Habitats & Resources Oil Palm Animal Testing Farming Factory Animal Rights Human Rights Rights Workers’ Chain Management Supply Marketing Irresponsible Arms & Military Supply Technologies Controversial Call Boycott Activity Political Finance Anti-Social Ethos Company Sustainability Product COMPANY GROUP

New Roots [O] 16 e 1 New Roots Tyne Chease 15.5 e 0.5 Tyne Chease Ltd Happy Cashew [O] 15 H e 1 Happy Cheeze Mouses Favourite [O] 15 H e 1 Mouses Favourite Sheese 15 e Bute Island Foods Green Vie 14 H e VP Elmarso Ltd Cheezly 13.5 h H e Heather Mills/VBites Foods Ltd Koko 11.5 H H h H e First Grade International Ltd Applewood 10.5 H H H h h E TINE SA Mozzarisella [O] 10.5 H H H H h 1 Frescolat SRL

Tofutti 10.5 H H h h h h E Tofutti Brands Inc/QUACAR Vitalite 9 h h H H H h h Saputo Inc Violife 5 H H H h H h h H h H H KKR & Co LP

Waitrose 4.5 h h H H h h H H H H H h h E John Lewis Partnership Trust Ocado 3 H h H H H h H H h H h h h H Ocado Group plc/M&S Group Sainsbury’s 2 h H H H h h H H H H h H H H J Sainsbury plc (QIA) Morrisons 2 h H H H h H H H h H h H h h H Wm Morrison Supermarkets Tesco 1.5 H H H h H H H H H H H H H Tesco plc Asda 0 h H H H h H H H H H H H H h H H Walmart Inc

[O] = organic certified. All the research behind these ratings is onwww.ethicalconsumer.org Definitions of all the categories can be found at www.ethicalconsumer.org/our-ethical-ratings.

m nsu er o .o c r l g Best Buys are decided by the editorial team based on the research we have undertaken, the scoring system and the unique

a insight into the issues that our editorial team has. 9 times out of 10 this will be the brand (or brands) that are top of the table but

c

i

h t sometimes an ethical company which is truly innovative scores less well on our rigid scoring system and we use the Best Buy and

e Y Recommended section to acknowledge this. A company cannot be a Best Buy if it scores worst for Supply Chain Management. BES T BU

Table highlights

Supply chain management received worst ratings. Brands affected under Anti-Social Finance. Brands Our Best Buy brands New Roots and were Cheezly, Green Vie, Happy Cashew affected were Tofutti (as the parent Tyne Chease, and our recommended (said it would have more information company of its sole UK distributor was brand Sheese, were made by small after visiting suppliers in March), Koko, based in the British Virgin Islands), Violife independent companies in their own Mouse’s Favourite, Mozzarisella, Tofutti, (excessive pay and likely tax avoidance factories. They also discussed workers’ Violife and Vitalite. strategies) and Vitalite (excessive pay). All rights in their supply chains and the supermarkets lost marks for excessive received best ratings for supply chain Anti-social finance pay, and Ocado, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and management. Companies which paid any director over Asda also lost marks for likely use of Those that did not have any or £1million in a year, or had significant tax avoidance strategies. Waitrose and adequate information on workers’ rights operations in tax havens, lost marks Morrisons did not.

18 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 m nsu er o .o c r l g

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Packaging i

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e Y All processed vegan cheese is packaged BUYS BE U in plastic. In some areas this may be S T B recyclable. Local producers may use greaseproof paper. Only the fermented Tyne Chease (UK) and New Roots cheese companies in this guide were (Switzerland) are our Best Buys. found to discuss packaging on their Both are fermented from organic websites, New Roots’ packaging being cashews by vegan companies, and 100% recyclable, Mouse’s Favourite both have two cashew suppliers one of using some compostable material, which is fair trade. Happy Cashew using returnable ice packs for mail orders, and Tyne Chease stating on social media that most of its packaging was compostable or Plastic packaging is often not yet recyclable. New recyclable. Roots Companies behind 16 SHELF LIFE the brands

Use-by dates vary widely among KKR, the ultimate owner of Violife, is a different brands, and a shorter shelf huge investment firm. As already stated, life can lead to food waste. Fermented it has investments in pharmaceutical brands often have longer dates. companies which test on animals, and Tyne Outliers among the processed options meat companies which produce animal Chease were Vitalite and Green Vie which, products. It also invests in oil and gas unlike other brands, did not state that companies and has been criticised 15.5 they should be consumed within a on human rights grounds. In 2018, certain amount of days after opening. it entered an advisory partnership We don’t know what preservative connected to a producer of tear gas techniques they are using. (Safariland LLC) which has been used against civilians. Researchers claimed Tyne Chease 4 weeks they had identified tear gas canisters New Roots 2 weeks from the company that were fired into Sheese (and all own-brand crowds of migrants, including children, supermarket varieties made by Sheese) 10 days at the U.S.’s southern border with Mouse’s Favourite 7-10 days Mexico. They had also been used on anti- Koko, Violife 7 days austerity demonstrators in Puerto Rico, Applewood, Tofutti 5 days Turkey and America, the researchers RECOMMENDED Mozzarisella 4 days said. Happy Cashew 3-4 days Happy Cashew hand-made vegan Cheezly 48 hours cheese comes from a small company from Sheese is a widely available processed Germany. The product was previously vegan cheese, made by a vegan called Happy Cheeze but faced several company in the UK. Happy Cashew lawsuits from the dairy industry and (Germany) and Mouse’s Favourite (UK) had to change the name. It is a company are other organic cashew options. looking to expand across Europe and, We also recommend finding a local as such, is in discussions with strategic organic producer in your local health partners and investors. Its founder said food shop. in an interview in late 2019 that it may announce an investor in early 2020. This may affect its score so we will be keeping an eye out. BRANDS TO AVOID

Violife’s owner KKR has investments in oil and gas companies, pharmaceutical Some companies making vegan cheese (like New Roots) take their veganism companies which test on animals, very seriously. Others are actually dairy and companies that produce meat companies who might be cashing in on the products. vegan tide.

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20 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 SHOPPING GUIDE Dairy milk The true cost of milk

ANNA CLAYTON churns our dairy dilemmas, recommending reform for this dirty and stretched industry.

n this guide to dairy milk we assess the policies and practices underlying 31 UK milk brands, Irecommending better buys and ways to support a dairy system that is more in tune with today’s environmental and social challenges.

A fully referenced version of this Product Guide is on our website

ethicalconsumer.org 21 USING THE TABLES Environment Animals People Politics +ve USING THE TABLES Ethiscore: the higher the score, the Positive ratings (+ve): better the company. Scored out of 14. Plus up to 1 extra point for Company Company Ethos: Ethos and up to 5 extra points for = full mark Product Sustainability. e E = half mark Green (good) = 12+ Product Sustainability: Amber (average) = 11.5–5 Various positive marks available Red (poor) = 4.5–0 depending on sector. H = worst rating h = middle rating = best rating/no criticisms found Best Buys are highlighted in blue

BRAND 14 + 6 extras) (out of Ethiscore Reporting Environmental Change Climate & Toxics Pollution Habitats & Resources Oil Palm Animal Testing Farming Factory Animal Rights Human Rights Rights Workers’ Chain Management Supply Marketing Irresponsible Arms & Military Supply Technologies Controversial Call Boycott Activity Political Finance Anti-Social Ethos Company Sustainability Product COMPANY GROUP

Acorn Dairy organic 15 H e 1 Acorn Dairy Calon Wen organic 15 H e 1 Calon Wen Organic Milk Coop Riverford organic 14 h H h e 1 Riverford Organic Farmers Daylesford organic 13.5 H H h e 1 BHoldings Ltd Abel & Cole organic 12 H H h h 1 William Jackson Food Group

Yeo Valley organic 11.5 h h h H h h h E 1 Yeo Valley Group/Arla Foods Grahams organic 10.5 H H H H h 1 Grahams the Family Dairy Moo Milk organic 10.5 H H H H h 1 Crediton Dairies Bowland Fresh 9.5 H H H H h Connect Plus Cymru Milk 9.5 H H H H h Medina Holdings Dairy Pride 9.5 H H H H h Crediton Dairies

Dale Farm organic 9.5 H H H H h H h E 1 Dale Farm Cooperative Delamere 9.5 H H H H h Delamere Dairy Holdings Freshways 9.5 H H H H h Nijjar Group Holdings Grahams 9.5 H H H H h Grahams the Family Dairy Moo Milk 9.5 H H H H h Crediton Dairies

St Helen’s Farm Goat Milk 9.5 H H H H H h e Kavli Trust Watsons 9.5 H H H H h Medina Holdings

Dale Farm 8.5 H H H H h H h E Dale Farm Cooperative Waitrose Duchy Organic 8.5 h H h h h h H h H h h h e 1 John Lewis/Prince’s Charities Arla organic 7.5 h h h h H H H h h h h H E 1 Arla Foods amba Müller, Puriti, The One Milk 7.5 H H H H H h H Untemehmens. Theo Müller

Co-op organic 7 H h h h h H H h H h H h E 1 Co-operative Group Marks & Spencers organic 7 h H h h H H H H h h h 1 Marks & Spencer Group

Arla Big, Cravendale 6.5 h h h h H H H h h h h H E Arla Foods amba Co-op 6 H h h h h H H h H h H h E Co-operative Group Marks & Spencers 6 h H h h H H H H h h h Marks & Spencer Group Aldi organic 5.5 h h H H h H H H h H h h h 1 Siepmann Stiftung Aldi 4.5 h h H H h H H H h H h h h Siepmann Stiftung

Waitrose 4.5 h h H H h h H H H H H h h E John Lewis Partnership Trust Iceland 4 H h H H H H H H H h H Iceland Topco Booths 3.5 H h H H H H H H h H H h EH Booths & Co Ltd Lidl 3.5 h h H H h h H H H H h h h H Schwarz Group Ocado 3 H h H H H h H H h H h h h H Ocado Group/Marks &Spencer Sainsbury’s organic 3 h H H H h h H H H H h H H H 1 J Sainsbury Morrisons organic 3 h H H H h H H H h H h H h h H 1 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Tesco organic 2.5 H H H h H H H H H H H H H 1 Tesco Plc Morrisons 2 h H H H h H H H h H h H h h H Wm Morrison Supermarkets Sainsbury’s 2 h H H H h h H H H H h H H H J Sainsbury Tesco 1.5 H H H h H H H H H H H H H Tesco plc Asda organic 1 h H H H h H H H H H H H H h H H 1 Walmart Inc Asda 0 h H H H h H H H H H H H H h H H Walmart Inc

m Best Buys are decided by the editorial team based on the research we have undertaken, the nsu er All the research behind these ratings is on o .o scoring system and the unique insight into the issues that our editorial team has. 9 times c r l g out of 10 this will be the brand (or brands) that are top of the table but sometimes an www.ethicalconsumer.org a

c

i ethical company which is truly innovative scores less well on our rigid scoring system and

Definitions of all the categories are at h t e we use the Best Buy and Recommended section to acknowledge this. A company cannot www.ethicalconsumer.org/our-ethical-ratings. Y be a Best Buy if it scores worst for Supply Chain Management. BES T BU

22 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 SHOPPING GUIDE

Dairy milk sume n r o .o c r l g

a

c

Intense strains opportunities for this. Supporting the i

h work of the Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA) BEST t

e Y While dairy milk is a staple for many UK is a good starting point for enabling this BUYS BE U households and pasture-fed dairy has sort of systemic work. Their current S T B shaped many of our rural landscapes, campaigns include lobbying for policies cultures and identities, the romanticised that support food and farming systems No milk brand is eligible for our Best image of cows grazing in lush green compatible with net zero emissions that Buy label because of the inherent fields has become less of a reality. will limit warming to 1.5°C. animal rights issues and ecological A 2014 study found that only 31% of footprint connected to industrial dairy dairy farmers in the UK still practised the farming. See our guide to plant milks on traditional system of summer grazing Dairy in a changing page 10 for Best Buy alternatives. and winter housing, with the remaining farmers moving cows indoors for more climate of the year, and 16% keeping some or all As dairy milk has both a bigger carbon their cows inside for all of the year. footprint and land use requirement RECOMMENDED Forward to 2018 and an estimated than its plant milk equivalents (see 23% of farms keep some or all their cows discussion on page 33),shifting to plant- We recommend that you stop buying, inside for all of the year. This increase in based milks seems like a good option for or reduce the amount of dairy milk you zero grazing practices sees more cows reducing our carbon footprints. drink; buying less but better-quality confined inside large sheds for their dairy This recommendation is supported by milk. producing life and has been linked to the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) Seek out local, small-scale, organic poorer animal health when compared to recent report which highlighted the need and pasture-fed milk providers that pasture grazed cows. for a major shift in land use if the UK is sell direct to customers, and ask The reason behind this shift to more to become a net zero carbon economy about their unique approach to animal intensive systems comes from market by 2050 (a far cry away from Extinction welfare and land management. pressures to increase production whilst Rebellion’s demand of net zero by 2025). To help you find direct buying keeping costs low. Jyoti Fernandes of In relation to dairy, the CCC’s options you can search the Farmers the Landworkers’ Alliance summarises recommendations include reducing Weekly map: www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/ the situation well: “Consumer demand consumption of ‘carbon intensive foods’ map-where-to-buy-milk-direct-from- for cheap milk has resulted in a need for (including dairy) by at least 20% per farm economies of scale in the dairy industry person; improving livestock health and Of the more widely available brands, that has driven the ethics of dairy slurry acidification and giving more land organic milk currently offers the best production down. The governments' to tree planting. These recommendations environmental and animal welfare relentless push for the dairy sector to call for less but better dairy, sourced from standards available. The following enter the global market propels farmers small biodiverse farms with high welfare organic brands score well on the table: into competition, with animals reared to standards (see page 28 for two case Acorn Dairy – available in northern and lower standards in order to keep prices studies). eastern England, down. Cheap prices also mean that farms If the CCC’s recommendations were Calon Wen – available in Wales and the can't afford to hire more employees to be pursued, they would also present border counties, to help out, so farmers are tired and additional environmental benefits Daylesford – deliveries available in the stretched in their capacity to look after through tackling the pollution from poor Cotswold and London areas, their animals, which of course, has an slurry management (as discussed below). Riverford – Wash Farm customers’ effect on animal welfare”. milk comes from Riverford Dairy. Not only is this stretched farming Sacrewell or Home Farm customers’ system problematic from an animal and Research into milk comes from Acorn Dairy, farmer welfare point of view, but it can Abel and Cole – nationwide deliveries, lead to the breakdown of social structures pollution Yeo Valley – available in supermarkets in rural communities. For example, As highlighted in our last guide to milk, across the country. fewer permanent farm labourers and the a report by the Bureau of Investigative merging of smaller farms into large-scale Journalism claimed that 424 ‘serious operations that sell to large retailers can pollution incidents’ were recorded from result in less money filtering down to pig, poultry and dairy farms between rural communities and people leaving in 2010 and 2016, having a potentially BRANDS TO AVOID search of secure employment. Promotion major impact on the environment.8 The of plant-based diets without supporting common offender was said to be slurry Supermarkets have been criticised farmer transitions also risks isolating from dairy farms. for paying milk suppliers lower prices dairy farmers further. Its ‘Dirty Business: the livestock farms that sometimes don’t cover production To address the dairy industry’s polluting the UK’ report describes some costs. We recommend avoiding systemic issues, reform is desperately farmers acting as ‘repeat offenders’ and own-brand milk from supermarkets needed. Calling for changes in policy treating the pollution fines they receive as that score poorly on our table: Asda, around dairy farming is key to supporting part of routine running costs. Incidents Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s for necessary changes and the Brexit process were reported to be commonly caused example. and climate emergency perhaps offers from the “storage, handling and spreading

ethicalconsumer.org 23 SHOPPING GUIDE Dairy milk

of waste”, due to “lack of investment in WHAT IS AMMONIA POLLUTION AND WHAT ARE infrastructure” or “inadequate planning and management of these substances”. ITS IMPACTS? Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and The Co-op were supplied by companies operating farms linked to serious incidents and two other incidents were linked to an intensive farm – Pawton Dairy – that supplies Arla Foods. All companies mentioned in the report lose half a mark under Ethical Consumer’s Pollution and Toxics category, as do other companies linked to pollution incidences. The Bureau has since investigated the need for mandatory monitoring of ammonia pollution from UK dairy farms – a contributor to the UK’s air pollution crisis. They conducted tests around eight dairies in the UK (including six intensive dairy units that housed more than 700 cows and a conventional farm that

allowed grazing). Ammonia hotspots were | Dreamstime.com © Bluetoes67 found at two of the intensive dairies and Ammonia (NH3) gas is the only pollutant on the rise in the UK, and its key source in specific locations around the outdoor (about 65%) is from livestock farms – particularly from slurry (a mixture of faeces farm. and urine). To address ammonia pollution and NH3 is released when slurry is left uncovered or when it is spread on fields as to support farmer transitions to more a fertiliser. Some of the gas ends up as a nitrogen deposit in rural areas, affecting sustainable forms of production, a culture biodiversity. An article by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism references studies shift is needed. Policy reform (such as across the UK and Europe that highlight how agricultural ammonia is affecting that advocated by the LWA) is key to biodiversity: “grasslands are losing species, which can hit pollinating insects, and supporting this, in addition to paying fungi that help trees and other plants to grow are being killed off”. farmers more for the milk they produce NH3 also mixes with industrial and car fumes to create a form of ‘particulate – in order to have the financial capital to matter’ that has been linked to higher death rates, respiratory problems and invest in infrastructure, etc. cardiovascular diseases. Cutting ammonia emissions is therefore essential if we are to clean up our air and restore rural biodiversity and is a key part of the governments Clean Air Strategy. The price of milk For further information see: www.thebureauinvestigates.com/ stories/2019-06-13/how-ammonia-is-killing-off-the-countryside In November 2019, the UK average farm-gate milk price was 29.69p per litre compared to an average of just under Packaging The ‘Dairy Roadmap’, an initiative 32p per litre for the cost of production run by Dairy UK, the NFU, and AHDB, – highlighting continuing issues around Concern over plastics may be behind also has more sustainable packaging unfair pricing. In short, retailers the increase in people subscribing on its mind. Its 2018 report gave an continue to squeeze producers. to doorstep milk deliveries, with a update on progress against a number In response a number of farmers’ milk quarter of people surveyed of targets: 85% of HDPE ranges have been launched over the years by Mintel considering milk bottles are currently that detail how much pence per litre goes this to be the more recycled, more than 95% to the farmer. environmentally tertiary packaging is For example, Arla’s Farmers Milk is friendly way of reused or recycled and said to give “an extra 25p per bottle” buying milk. This 80% of paper used back to the farmer, and Sainsbury’s, is a complex in cartons is FSC Marks and Spencer, Co-op, Waitrose and issue, with assured. Tesco use ‘Cost of Production’ in their the impacts See page pricing models to ensure their dedicated depending 14 for further suppliers get a fairer price for their milk. on the return information about Buying milk direct from a farm and reuse the environmental however is the best way to ensure that the rate of glass credentials of other farmer is getting a fair price for their milk, bottles and milk packaging whilst building a relationship that goes the transport options such as beyond the passive consumer-retailer method used tetra packs and

transaction. for delivery. plastic bottles. | Dreamstime.com © Georgesixth

24 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 Animal welfare Sustainability, and Company Ethos categories. Dairy farming has inherent animal If a company sells any uncertified welfare issues that boil down to this animal products or its animal welfare simple fact: if you want a continuous policy suggests it uses restricted or zero supply of milk, you need to keep female grazing practices, it loses a mark under cows (or goats or sheep) in a perpetual the Factory Farming category. cycle of pregnancy and birth to The following companies provided encourage lactation. no detail regarding a minimum number It is therefore common practice for of days their dairy cows are required to female cows to be artificially inseminated have access to outdoor pasture: Iceland, two to three months after giving birth; Medina, Arla, Müller group, Freshways, encouraging milk production whilst a calf Dale Farm, Connect Plus, Crediton is growing inside. Newborn calves are Dairies, Delamere, St Helen’s Farm, Tesco, then removed from the mother, shortly Asda, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Aldi and Lidl. after birth. Vague commitments to pasture As male calves clearly don’t have a role feeding (depending on weather, etc) were in producing milk, they are either sent provided by Graham’s dairy, Booths and to slaughter for veal, raised for beef, or the Co-op. shot. Female calves are raised for milk Marks and Spencer prohibited zero production – continuing this degrading grazing systems and required a minimum down under the Factory Farming category dairy cycle. of 100 days grazing for at least four hours and gain a positive Company Ethos mark. Dairy cows have also been selectively per day. Morrisons required its organic This includes Acorn Dairy, Calon Wen, bred for dairy farming and now produce milk cows to spend an average of 200 Daylesford and Riverford. six to ten times what they naturally days per year grazing but provided no All of Abel & Cole’s and Yeo Valley’s would for a calf. This can have health information for its non-organic milk. dairy is also certified organic but as they implications depending on how the cows Waitrose required its dairy cows to graze are both owned by companies that also are managed, including difficulties in for at least 120 days per year. sell uncertified products they do not moving, mastitis (an infection of the Company groups that offer only receive a positive Company Ethos mark. udder) and calcium deficiencies. organic or free-range milk are not marked All organic products gain a positive Product Sustainability mark. The problem of increased yields On top of this, as industrial farming systems continue to focus on increasing milk yields whilst reducing costs of BUSINESS BENCHMARK ON FARM ANIMAL WELFARE (BBFAW) production, intensive livestock practices have become more common in the UK. The BBFAW annual report assesses company approaches to farm animal welfare This has resulted in average herd sizes on the basis of their published information in four core areas: increasing and zero or limited grazing l Management Commitment and Policy; practices becoming more common l Governance and Management; – limiting a cows access to outdoor l Leadership and Innovation; pasture. As we mentioned above, an l Performance Reporting and Impact. estimated 23% of dairy farms in the UK use zero or severely restricted grazing, By reviewing this information on an annual basis BBFAW aims to improve whilst others allow the cows to graze corporate reporting, practice and performance on farm animal welfare only a few months in a year. management. This industrial process inevitably takes its toll. Many dairy cows are slaughtered The 2018 report reviewed 150 companies; ranking them on a scale from Tier 1 in the UK, physically exhausted, shortly (indicating companies that have taken a leadership position), down to Tier 6 (farm after their fifth birthday compared to animal welfare does not appear to be recognised as a business issue). All companies the 20 or more years that a natural and rated Tier 3 – Tier 6 lose half a mark under our Animal Rights category. healthy cow can live. If a cow produces less milk, becomes infertile or becomes ill Milk brands included in the 2018 report were: or injured they may also be slaughtered TIER 1 – Waitrose and Marks & Spencer. for cheap beef. TIER 2 – Morrisons and Sainsbury’s moved up one tier since our last milk guide. Because of these inherent issues, all Tesco and The Co-op remained at Tier 2. companies offering dairy products are TIER 3 – Arla, Aldi and Lidl. Aldi and Lidl showed improvement by moving up one marked down under Ethical Consumer’s tier since our last milk guide. Animal Rights category – as highlighted TIER 4 – Walmart dropped a tier since the last milk guide. in the score table. Where we differentiate TIER 6 – Müller Group showed no signs of improving and was still ranked Tier 6. between better animal welfare practice is under the Factory Farming, Product

ethicalconsumer.org 25 SHOPPING GUIDE Dairy milk

OMG:GMO ANIMAL FEED Most companies lose at least half a mark in the Controversial Technologies column on the table on page 22 for the likely use of animal feed containing GM soya. Companies that sell organic animal products only, don't lose a mark as organic certification excludes the use of GMOs.

Arla continues to lose a mark | Dreamstime.com (null) © (null) under this category, but it has made some progress, stating: “All soy fed to cows at Arla farms is either organic, ProTerra- certified, RTRS-certified (Round Table Responsible Soy) or covered by RTRS-credits."

Assurance schemes

A number of assurance schemes have ovum pick-up are prohibited except in only applies to cow’s milk (not goat and emerged over the years to try and exceptional circumstances and outdoor sheep), and its notable requirements address concerns over animal welfare grazing is encouraged. Antibiotics use include: issues. However artificial insemination, is monitored and should be used only l No zero grazing. early separation of calf from mother when ‘necessary’, with preventative l Prohibiting the use of soya and GM and the killing of male calves is allowed measures being encouraged. The use of animal feed. under all (it’s just a matter of when, GM animal feed is not prohibited. l Minimum weaning age for calves is 12 where, by whom and for what). All of Marks and Spencer’s fresh milk weeks. currently comes from RSPCA-assured l Calves must not be killed (by the The Red Tractor farms. Pasture for Life farm) for any reason other Standard is referred to than non-recoverable illness or injury. by several companies Organic standards for l Antibiotic use is kept to a minimum in their animal welfare milk can vary between and reviewed on a case-by case basis. policies, including different certification The PFLA website currently lists two Medina, Dale Farm, bodies but the Soil places where you can buy Pasture for Life Crediton Dairy, Müller, Graham’s Dairies, Association standard milk: Challons Combe Organics and Taw Tesco, Sainsbury, Aldi and St Helen’s is predominantly used River Dairy in Devon. Farm. Red Tractor merely guarantees by companies in this guide. Common that milk was produced on a UK farm requirements include: Pasture Promise – that met Red Tractor Farm Assurance l Animals should be grazed outside for Legally, free-range milk Dairy standards – the UK and EU legal most of the year (weather permitting). is yet to be defined and minimum. All the practices described l Minimum weaning age for calves is 12 so The Free Range Dairy above (and more)22 can therefore take weeks. network has developed place and there is no prohibition on l The routine use of antibiotics is their own working the use of GM animal feed. Regarding prohibited. definition – the network requires its antibiotic use, its processes recommend l Artificial pesticides cannot be used on farmers to graze their cows outside for responsibly reducing ‘antibiotic usage the land. 180 days and nights a year (except in where appropriate without negatively l No use of GM feed. exceptional circumstances) before they impacting welfare’. can use the Free Range Pasture Promise The Pasture-Fed logo on their products. They also RSPCA-Assured milk Livestock Association prohibit Free Range Dairy Farmers from offers slightly higher (PFLA) is a farmer-led shooting calves unless it is ‘to alleviate animal welfare standards organisation which pain or suffering’. No information could when compared to the champions the benefits be found regarding this standard’s legal minimum standards of dairy (beef and lamb) approach to antibiotic use. for cows. For example, production just from grass and pasture, Free Range Pasture Promise milk is a local anaesthetic is required when with no grains being fed to the animals. available in ASDA stores nationwide. disbudding; embryo transfer and The Pasture for Life standard currently

26 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 Companies behind the brands BADGER NEWS Arla, Connect Plus, Dale Following the 2018 Farm, Calon Wen and The European heatwave, Arla Co-op all present different showed its cooperative models for collaborative and colours by paying out its co-operative working, albeit full net profits (around £278 at different scales and with million) to drought-struck different value sets. farmers who were struggling Dale Farm is a co-operative financially. The Arla chairmen that sells a range of commented on this decision, uncertified dairy products. stating: “As a farmer-owned Calon Wen is also a co- dairy company, we care operative and all of its deeply about the livelihood produce is organic. of our farmers and we The Co-op is one of the recognise that this summer’s world’s largest consumer drought in Europe has been co-ops. extraordinary”. In early 2018, Arla Connect Plus and its got clearance from the Bowland Fresh brand are Competition and Markets described by Co-ops UK Authority for a partnership as being “a real success with Yeo Valley. Arla Foods can story for the collaboration now use the Yeo Valley brand of local farmers”. Since its in the UK for milk, butter, establishment around 19 spreads, dairy and cheese, years ago, the company has resulting in Yeo Valley’s sourced milk from dairy Ethiscore dropping to 11.5, Sadly, the badger cull continues despite widespread opposition farms across the Forest of due to Arla’s poorer marks from both scientists and the general public to badger culling as Bowland, Lancashire, selling across our categories. a control method for the spread of bovine tuberculosis in cattle. Bowland Fresh through major Eleven more cull zones were approved in 2019 (creating a total outlets such as Booths. Acorn Dairy supplies its of 43) and the death toll was expected to reach 63,000 this organic milk to Riverford past culling season. Arla is a global dairy customers in central and Campaign groups have historically called for boycotts of cooperative, owned by northern England and also both the milk industry as a whole and of milk brands supplied more than 11,200 farmers offers doorstep deliveries by farms within the cull zones. The rationale behind these calls in the UK, Denmark, around the Darlington area. was based on the notion that dairy farmers and the problems Sweden, Germany, Belgium, It claims to have produced they have experienced with bovine TB were the key drivers Luxembourg and the the first pint of milk powered of the cull. Encouraging consumers and retailers to apply Netherlands. entirely by wind energy – economic pressure on dairy and/or beef farmers was therefore produced by a deemed the natural focus for a badger-friendly boycott 67-metre-high campaign. turbine based However, it has proven difficult to implement a badger- at their farm in friendly milk boycott due to the complexity of milk supply Darlington. chains and the rolling out of the cull makes this even more difficult (unless the whole milk industry is boycotted). There is St Helen’s and also little differentiation between companies – with many not Delamere both wanting to put pressure on dairy farmers to either participate sell goat milk and or not to participate in the cull. appear to practice This common stance is highlighted by Riverford’s response: zero grazing, with “We do not think it fair to pressure or penalise farmers who the companies happen to fall in geographical locations where the cull is describing their implemented, and who are simply trying to do their best for animals as being their animals and business within government policy”. kept in barns. Avoiding milk altogether, or sourcing from regional milk suppliers outside of the cull zones is the only way to guarantee that milk has not been sourced from a farm involved in the badger cull. Of the companies covered in this guide, this This 2012 report includes Acorn Dairy, Daylesford, Bowland and Graham's Dairy. by Viva! accused Upper Ensom Farm Putting pressure on our government to consider more (a goat farm that holistic approaches to bovine TB management is also key. supplied milk to https://badgeractionnetwork.org.uk has useful resources to Delamere Dairy), of animal cruely. support you in doing this.

ethicalconsumer.org 27 SHOPPING GUIDE Dairy milk Doing dairy differently

On the fringes of the dairy sector can be found models of small-scale dairy farming that work better for animals and the landscapes they roam. These pioneering farms use a range of production methods that champion cooperative ways of working and higher animal and environmental welfare. They also seek to diversify income streams and sell direct to customers to ensure a fairer price for the farmer. These mission driven initiatives rely on committed customers (or food citizens) who support their values and are willing to pay the true cost of milk. The Ahimsa Dairy Foundation and Calf at Food Dairy provide just two unique examples of farmers trying to do dairy differently.

Ahimsa Dairy Foundation The Ahimsa Dairy Foundation (ADF) runs a unique dairy farm in the heart of the picturesque county of Rutland which is entirely slaughter-free. Inspired by the model of farming at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the Hare Krishna temple near Watford, no cow, bull calf or grown ox is ever sent to the abattoir and all live out their full natural lives. Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word meaning non-violence and that is the way the not-for-profit organisation farms. Fundamentally the team believe that it is wrong to take a cow’s milk and be sustained by this miracle food and then kill her when she becomes less productive. She deserves a happy old age, chewing the cud with her friends and relations in the fields, in gratitude for all she has given. ADF commented: “at a time when Lily and Vraja, Ahimsa Dairy Foundation. fossil fuels are destroying the world and leading to catastrophic climate change, it At present the Ahimsa Dairy has a herd The Ahimsa Dairy strives to farm to makes no sense to kill bull calves in their of more than 35 milking cows, calves the highest agroecological standards, thousands. Their strength and muscle can and oxen, all with names and individual encouraging and supporting wildlife be employed to work the land as they did personalities. It also has a bull called on its organic pasture. A survey by the for centuries even in Britain before the Superhero, who is father to most of the Wildlife Trust showed that, since the cows advent of the industrial revolution and calves. The calves stay with their mothers had been there, biodiversity on the land the tractor. Oxen work in harmony with and the herd for at least six months, until had increased and last year critically nature and their hooves do not damage they become big and strong. At present endangered water voles were found living the precious soil as heavy machinery there are six calves who now have their on the banks of the river which runs does. Their dung and urine is also a vital own little gang. through the fields. Barn owl and bat boxes fertiliser for the earth feeding billions The milking cows are mainly milked have been sited on the trees and there are of microorganisms and worms and by hand and only visit the bull every two soon to be boxes for kestrels too. In the creating healthy pasture, which acts as an to four years. They do not have yearly warm months the farm is awash with moths important carbon sink”. pregnancies as in conventional dairies. and butterflies. www.ahimsamilk.org

28 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 CAN GRAZING PRODUCE DAIRY WITH A LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINT? It is argued that well-managed holistic grazing systems could sequester carbon in grasslands by stimulating plant growth and carbon sequestration in the soil, compensating partially or entirely for the greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by livestock. However, the science around this is patchy and does not reach clear conclusions. The answer to this question appears to depend on a given location, the climate and soil type etc. and how degraded land was prior to being holistically Fiona and Bella, The grazed.1 Calf at Foot Diary.

Calf at Foot herbivores move to protect themselves ryegrass monocultures and killed our from natural predators). This grazing precious dung beetles and earthworms. The Calf at Foot Dairy (CAFD) sells rhythm helps to create and maintain a soil They have overused chemical fertilisers raw milk from its farm gate and offers carbon sponge. and wormers – lowering their cattle’s deliveries via its online shop. Its cows “Under-hoof the soil is healthy, fertile immunity to parasites due to overgrazing. are Purely-Pasture-Fed Jersey and and rich in organic matter, leguminous This I call degenerative agriculture. Native cows and it uses a ‘calf at foot’ plants, grasses and forbs draw down “Many of our customers think of farming technique that was pioneered carbon; locking it into the soil to feed the our Proper Milk as medicine, but we by Fiona Proven of CAFD.2 plant roots. The resulting deeper tap- like to think it’s a little more. It’s the Fiona commented: “Our cows are roots not only mine the soil (bringing contentedness of our cows, the vitality of milked just once a day. All the cows know trace elements and minerals to the our soil and a link joining our biomes to their name and come when called. The surface to enrich our food with micro- our biosphere.” calves stay with their mothers, ideally nutrients) but are key for breaking up www.the-calf-at-foot-dairy.co.uk until a natural weaning age of about 9 compacted soils. This allows rainwater months, but this can vary depending to penetrate deep into the ground and on how mum and her calf are doing. prevents run-off – building resilience to Knowing what’s right for our cows is an drought and flooding. art-form and requires that we share an “Populations of beneficial bacteria, intimate relationship with them (with trial fungi, wild flowers, seeds and and error!). invertebrates bloom. This banquet brings “Having my cattle on pasture insect loving songbirds and seed loving always felt right to me. However, as finches. Nectar and pollinators abound, I began researching I discovered followed by small mammals, amphibians, just how important grazing cows upon grass-snakes and raptors. This is a form mixed, perennial, permanent pastures is. of regenerative agriculture. Our cows are moved across fields swiftly, “For too long farmers have depleted A comment by Jyoti Fernandes of the as a bunch (similar to how wild herds of and degraded our soils, sown annual Land Workers Alliance continues to offer food for thought when reflecting on the above case studies and dairy Many of our customers alternatives: “These creative farmers push the boundaries for the most think of our Proper Milk as ethical milk available but, in reality, most small-scale family dairy farms medicine, but we like to have very high standards for their animals. Almost all of the small-scale think it’s a little more. It’s the dairy farmers I know care deeply about their cows. Small-scale dairy farms contentedness of our cows, need reliable support from ‘consumers the vitality of our soil and a who care’ to stay viable”.3 References: 1 https://fcrn.org.uk/sites/default/files/project- files/fcrn_gnc_report.pdf 2 https://www.the-calf-at-foot- link joining our biomes to our dairy.co.uk/the-cafd-method.html 3 You can read Jyoti Fernandes’ piece on dairy alternatives from our last milk guide online: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/ biosphere FIONA PROVAN shopping-guide/milk

ethicalconsumer.org 29 FEATURE

Rainforest is cleared for cattle grazing. © Daniel Beltrá, Greenpeace How bad are meat and dairy for the climate?

JOSIE WEXLER looks at the science on the effect of animal products on the climate.

30 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 here are strong environmental reasons to reduce our consumption of animal products, especially due to livestock’s Timpact on the climate. Because this fact has been subject to controversy, this feature drills down into the numbers and the arguments. On page 33, we look in particular at the climate impact of dairy milk and cheese vs plant milk and cheese, to tie in with our shopping guides.

The standard story

By the usual methods of accounting, food accounts for about a quarter of human greenhouse gas emissions. Of this, livestock constitutes about 56%, while only providing 37% of our protein and 18% of our calories.1 Ruminants (cows, sheep and goats) are the biggest contributors of all – they are responsible for about 80% of the livestock figure, although they only produce about 40% of all animal protein.2 The reasons that animal products come out as bad for the climate are severalfold, but two of the main ones are: Virgin habitat is destroyed in the Brazilian Cerrado to culitivate soya for animal feed. © Stockholm Environment Institue Environment © Stockholm l Livestock uses huge amounts of land, both for grazing and for growing feed. Indeed, one estimate is that if we all went vegan, we could reduce the in the plants above the ground. The The cow turns out to not be the land used by agriculture by 75%.3 It is quantity varies depending on things saviour inherently inefficient to grow grain and like the vegetation on the land and on Plenty of scientific analyses have been soya to feed to animals and then eat the temperature (heat increases the rate done of the issues in Savory’s talk. And animals, rather than eating the grain and of decomposition), and you can build the summary is: there is a grain of truth soya directly. it up by restoring degraded land, but in it, but nothing remotely on the scale l Ruminants (animals that chew the eventually, like the above-ground carbon being claimed. cud – mostly cows and sheep) burp large in a forest, it reaches a plateau level.4 It is true that grasslands, which have amounts of methane during the torturous The claim is that grazing livestock huge underground root systems, can process of digesting grass. Methane is a can play a huge part in building it up. store a lot of carbon under the ground very powerful greenhouse gas. The most extreme and high-profile – in some areas even more than would On the basis of this, a lot of people have proponent is a man called Allan Savory. be stored on the land, in total, if it were started advocating that we should stop, Savory was born in Zimbabwe to British a forest. Grassland does not necessarily or reduce, eating animal products for the colonial parents, and he doesn’t have a need to be grazed (in some places it is sake of the climate. glowing ecological past: as a young man just the natural ‘climax vegetation’), but However, this has been disputed by he argued that elephants were causing it does seem that in some situations some who claim that animal products desertification, and approximately cows can help to regenerate degraded have been given an unduly bad rap, 40,000 were slaughtered on his advice, grassland – nibbling can encourage root especially those in the farming industry. to no benefit. However, now wracked growth for example. However, it can also with remorse about this, he is pushing go the other way – cows can, and often do, a different idea for how to solve the trash the land.5 Argument one: problem: cows. One huge research project looked into In 2013, Savory gave a TED talk the issue and concluded: soil carbon and the claiming that grazing cattle can reverse “In some specific contexts, where the saviour cow desertification, sequestering so much soil climate, soil, land use history, and grazing carbon that they could reverse climate management are just right, additional One of the principle arguments concerns change and bring carbon dioxide levels carbon [through grazing] can be removed soil carbon. Soil carbon is below-ground back to pre-industrial levels. The talk from the atmosphere and sequestered plant matter from things like roots and went viral – it has now been viewed nearly in soils. But realistic rates for this are litter from above. It’s a big deal – there seven million times. far below those claimed outside of the is more carbon stored in this form than scientific literature. And only rarely can

ethicalconsumer.org 31 FEATURE

sequestration outweigh the greenhouse carbon footprint of your diet is what you caveat to these figures. And that is that, gas emissions from the grazing animals.”6 actually eat. like nearly all calculations of the impact They further concluded that, at a of animal products, while they do include global level, the absolute largest possible actual land conversions that took place, sequestration potential from grazing Argument three: they do not include land ‘opportunity management “offsets only 20-60% of costs’ – what else you could theoretically annual average emissions from the ‘default meat’ or do with the land in a best-case scenario grazing ruminant sector and makes ‘ecological left overs’ for the climate. a negligible dent on overall livestock Land can absorb carbon if you let it emissions.”7 A third argument sometimes used is turn back into forest or use it to grow The team responsible did a YouTube that it is possible to get some animal biomass which you can then preserve in video summarising their findings, which products without using ‘dedicated some form (such as charcoal). In other can be seen here: https://youtu.be/ resources. This is sometimes called words, it can be ‘carbon negative’. nub7pToY3jU ‘default meat’ or ‘ecological left overs”. If you do include these land For example, you can feed pigs on food ‘opportunity costs’, the impact of animal waste, although it is currently illegal to do products can double (or more) because of Argument two: so in the UK. There is also a ‘sustainable the amount of land that livestock uses.18 yield’ that you can take of wild game that animals, ships and doesn’t use extra resources, because packaging you’re just acting like a normal predator Conclusion in the system, and if you weren’t taking A second argument often used to claim it, the animals would be expending more This feature has only addressed climate that eating food from animals isn’t energy competing for resources. impacts, not things like nutrition or really bad for the climate is that it is less The problem is just that the amounts livelihoods. important than other things, particularly we are talking about here are small. UK As noted, it is possible for small how far the food has travelled. post-farm food waste would be enough amounts of animal products produced However, again, the science doesn’t to make about 6 kg of pork per person in very specific ways to be neutral or really support this. Pretty much all of the per year.11 We consume about 24 kg per beneficial for the climate. research done in the 40 years since the person per year.12 However, that doesn’t ultimately affect ‘food miles’ concept was first proposed the overall picture very much, because has shown that transport is generally it isn’t what we’re doing. Overall, it a small part of a food’s climate impact, How much are we does seem that the climate case against compared with what the food actually is. consuming animal products, certainly in On average, it only constitutes around talking about? the quantities that we do, is really strong. 11%.8 Below is one academic estimate of the The reason is that most of it travels in average carbon footprint of UK diets, huge, slow freight ocean liners, whose calculated from food diaries.13 The average UK carbon 12 tonnes14 energy use is very low – up to 250 times footprint per person per year, including all imported goods. less per tonne-km than trucks. In fact, Tonnes CO eq per year 2 (This is the mean, so it will even when food has come from the other be raised by a few very rich side of the world, the last bit of transport, High meat eaters 2.6 people and most people’s footprint is lower than this) within the UK, can contribute more of the Medium meat eaters 2 transport emissions.9 The median household’s 0.8 tonnes15 electricity use for a year The same is true of packaging – it’s not Low meat eaters 1.7 a huge contributor on the climate front. Fish eaters 1.43 One return passenger flight 0.8 tonnes from London to New York (1.6 tonnes Milk cartons contribute about 5% of the Vegetarians 1.39 carbon footprint of milk, for example, with 1 ‘radiative and plastic packaging contributes about Vegans forcing’ 4% of the carbon footprint of pork.10 uplift 16 That doesn’t mean that packaging According to this, going from a medium factor) doesn’t matter (for one thing, there are meat to a vegan diet saves about a A return car journey from 0.25 17 other environmental issues as well as tonne of CO eq a year. There are some London to Edinburgh for an tonnes 2 average petrol car (the whole climate change). But it does mean, the comparisons on the right. car, not per passenger) overwhelmingly important factor in the There is, however, a very important

References: 1. Poore and Nemececk, 2018, Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers, Science 360, 987–992 2. Food Climate Research Network, 2017, Grazed and confused 3. Poore and Nemececk, 2018, Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers, Science 360, 987–992 4. IPCC, 2019, Special Report on Climate Change and Land 5. Food Climate Research Network, 2017, Grazed and confused 6. https://youtu.be/nub7pToY3jU 7. Godfray et al., 2018, Meat consumption, health, and the environment 8. Nijdam et al, 2012, The price of protein: Review of land use and carbon footprints from life cycle assessments of animal food products and their substitutes 9. Nijdam et al, 2012, The price of protein: Review of land use and carbon footprints from life cycle assessments of animal food products and their substitutes 10. Blonk et al. 2008 11. Calculated from WRAP’s figure of 150 kg per person for 2018 UK post farm food waste (tinyurl.com/yx6gel6e), and a 24:1 conversion ratio of swill into pork, reported by Simon Fairlie in Meat: A benign extravagance, 2012. 12. www.statista.com/statistics/440760/pig-meat-per-capita- consumption-in-the-united-kingdom 13. Scarborough et al. (2014). Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK. Climatic Change. 125. 10.1007/

s10584-014-1169-1 14. Calculated from total UK footprint of 784 million tonnes CO2e From “Defra – UK’s carbon footprint”, and population of 65.65 million 15. Calculated from www.ofgem.gov.uk/gas/ retail-market/monitoring-data-and-statistics/typical-domestic-consumption-values 16. Calculated from www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2019 17.

Calculated from www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2019 18. Schmidinger & Stehfest, 2012, Including CO2 implications of land occupation in LCAs— method and example for livestock products; Searchinger et al. 2018, Assessing the efficiency of changes in land use for mitigating climate change

32 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 Plant vs dairy – comparing their climate impacts

The greenhouse gas emissions of all plant milks and cheese substitutes are likely to be significantly lower than cow’s milk and cheese. But judging the greenhouse gas emissions of anything is messy. There are always wide variations – partly due to the methodologies used, and partly because the difference between the best and worst producers is often huge. Studies on the emissions of a litre of dairy milk, for example, have come up with answers that vary from 0.54 to 7.50 kgCO2eq. However, if you look at lots of studies, certain basic patterns emerge and you can get a pretty good overall picture.

Greenhouse gas emissions of plant vs dairy milk Our bar chart (right) shows average CO2 emissions per litre for various milks within Europe found by one large review study, led by Joseph Poore at the University of Oxford. (The almond figure is the global one as there was no figure for Europe.) The global average figures from this study were quoted by the BBC, which Ruth Walton include a higher figure for cow milk, but we’re giving the European figures as they are more relevant in the UK and also more similar to figures in other reviews. you’d be lucky to find someone who has and Joseph Poore may have been right Although figures differ between sat down and meticulously calculated when he said, in response to a question reviews, the pattern is basically consistent the emissions of buckwheat milk. on which is the best plant milk for the that cow’s milk is worse than the others, There is also very little out there on environment: which isn’t that surprising, given the cheese substitutes. “I think you’re pulling at straws. I emissions of cows (see page 30). However, it is possible to make think they’re all so low impact compared Furthermore, as is mentioned in the reasonable guesses on the basis of the to dairy milk that if we chose to change feature, most life cycle figures do not ingredients. The ingredients invariably to any of them it would generally be include the greenhouse gas ‘opportunity make up the bulk of foods’ carbon beneficial.” cost’ of land use (the other things that you footprint, with processing being a small could do with the land, like reforesting part. This is true of all plant milks and of it, that could potentially remove carbon dairy cheese. from the air). If you do include that, Greenhouse animal products come out much worse. Greenhouse gas emissions of gas emissions The ‘land used’ figures in the bar chart plant vs dairy cheese of cheese show why. (These figures are also from On the right are some figures for life kg CO2e per kg Joseph Poore, and again, for Europe cycle estimates of the greenhouse gas except in the case of almond.) Basically, emissions of cheese, and the main Dairy cheese 18 cow’s milk uses more land per litre than ingredients in vegan cheese. These Coconut 2.1 any of these plant milks. are from a different analysis to the one Tree nuts (almond, 2 above, but also from the UK. cashew etc) Making reasonable guesses From this, it seems very likely that There isn’t a huge amount out there on cheese substitutes have lower emissions Soya beans 2 the other milks. One analysis suggested than dairy cheese. Soya oil 1.8 that coconut milk’s climate impact This is obviously very rough. But Wheat 1 is similar to almond, and another looking for too much precision is a bit suggested that pea’s is similar to oat. But spurious in an area that is this messy, Potato 0.4

ethicalconsumer.org 33 SHOPPING GUIDE Bananas The best of the bunch?

CLARE CARLILE looks at exploitation and environmental degradation in the banana industry.

In response to this, bananas were one of the first products to be certified under Fairtrade, meaning that more ethical alternatives are available. © Tina Zovteva | Dreamstime.com © Tina Zovteva

some bananas are grown by small Exploitation of ananas are the most popular independent producers, most come fruit in the UK. We eat about one from large plantations controlled by workers in every six bananas consumed big multinational corporations. These Over recent decades, trade unions, civil in the EU. For years, though, companies often own entire supply society organisations and campaigners Bthe banana has been at the centre of chains, from the farms to the distribution have reported serious abuses of workers’ conflicts over the rights of workers and and shipping businesses. rights in the banana industry. In many damage to the environment. Sadly, human rights abuses are of the Latin American countries where Many of the bananas common. In many countries, corporations the bananas we eat come from, workers eaten in the UK come focused on exporting the product abroad have struggled to claim their rights as A fully referenced from Latin America, offer poor working conditions, often unions remain repressed. version of principally Colombia, to vulnerable migrants. They rely on this Product Guide is on Costa Rica, the toxic chemicals that pollute the local Facing in-work poverty our website Dominican Republic environment and harm the health of local In 2018, an Oxfam report on conditions and Ecuador. While communities. for banana workers in Ecuador – the

34 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 Female workers in the banana industry face biggest exporter of the fruit – found that harassment, precarious employment and most workers were living “a hand-to- unequal wages. mouth existence.” Although the legal minimum wage is largely respected on banana plantations, it is often too low to cover the basic costs of living. Some two thirds of workers in Costa Rica, Peru and Ecuador said that they do not earn enough to cover basic needs, when interviewed in 2019 for Oxfam. In Ecuador, banana workers earn almost 20% less than the living wage or income. In Côte d’Ivoire, the gap for many field and packhouse workers is much larger. Overtime is frequently not paid. The cost of work tools, clothes and ‘other’ deductions are made from salaries.

Extremely long hours and unsafe © Banana Link conditions are also often enforced. Almost all work is done by hand, leaving many In January, seven German or Guatemala may earn as little as five fieldworkers and those in packaging supermarkets including Aldi and Lidl dollars a day and receive no benefits at plants with repetitive strain injuries. signed a voluntary agreement committing all. “The hours we are expected to work to to the payment of living wages in In Colombia, the union’s strength earn the minimum wage go well beyond their agricultural supply chains. The means that wages and conditions for the the legal limit of 48 per week, but if you commitment will see them working with vast majority of workers are far above complain or join the union you are likely suppliers towards a long-term plan, those in any other agricultural workplace to be sacked”, one woman working for a including with their banana producers. in the country, and the best in the global large Costa Rican company told Banana banana industry. Link. Women in the banana industry “If we didn’t have our union talking For women, the situations they face are with all the companies here in Urabá, we’d Unable to claim workers’ rights often even worse than those of male still be living in misery,” one Colombian Often, workers are left unable to demand workers. Many employers see women worker told Banana Link. better conditions because they are as a ‘high risk high cost’ option, leaving Although the industry is one of the employed on short-term contracts female workers in constant danger of most highly unionised agricultural sector and risk being laid off for speaking losing their employment, and meaning workforces in the Americas, there are out. Others are employed through that in Latin America they make up as whole areas of banana production where subcontractors, allowing companies little as 7% of the workforce. unionisation has been prevented by to abdicate responsibility. In 2019, Women usually work in the packaging plantation owners or national laws. trade unions in Costa Rica condemned department, where they can be paid less Chiquita for laying off 178 workers at than male fieldworkers. In 2016, a Lidl The case of Ecuador one of its plantations and outsourcing supplier in Ecuador reportedly cut wages In Ecuador, an organisation has to have the work to three companies instead. for all female workers so that they were over 30 members from a single farm to The problems are exacerbated in just a third of those of the male workers. be recognised as a union. It was only in places like Costa Rica and the Dominican They face harassment, sexual 2019 that the government finally allowed Republic, where many are desperately discrimination and some receive no a national banana workers’ federation poor migrants. If current workers maternity benefits. In many Latin to be legally registered and receive the protest, companies know that they can American countries, female employees protections and rights of a formal union. replace them with others in serious need have to provide medical certificates In 2016 and 2017, Oxfam investigations of employment who will accept their proving that they are not pregnant or found that none of the workers they spoke conditions. In the Dominican Republic, as submit to pregnancy tests before they to on Ecuador’s banana farms had been much as 65% of banana workers are from are offered jobs. Reports of this have also allowed to establish unions. ‘Black lists’ Haiti, who often feel unable to join unions come from the same Lidl supplier as with the names of any union members are “due to fear of discrimination, repression mentioned above. said to pass between plantation owners, and deportation (if undocumented)”, ensuring they will not be employed. according to the UN. Banana unions – working to Mass lay-offs of unionised workers However, there is growing recognition improve workers’ rights and pay can take place without the company that these problems need to be addressed. Trade unions have pushed for better breaking the law, because workers are Many of the major companies have come conditions. In many countries, where often employed on short-term contracts, together in the World Banana Forum, a they have been successful, a unionised meaning that the company simply coalition of companies, governments, banana worker may earn double the chooses not to ‘renew’ their employment. trade unions, civil society organisations minimum wage and receive other At the Lidl supplier in Ecuador, by the end and others, which is beginning to address benefits. By comparison, a non- of 2017, at least 10 union members had some of the problems. unionised banana worker in Nicaragua been let go.

ethicalconsumer.org 35 USING THE TABLES Environment Animals People Politics +ve USING THE TABLES Ethiscore: the higher the score, the Positive ratings (+ve): better the company. Scored out of 14. Plus up to 1 extra point for Company Company Ethos: Ethos and up to 5 extra points for = full mark Product Sustainability. e E = half mark Green (good) = 12+ Product Sustainability: Amber (average) = 11.5–5 Various positive marks available Red (poor) = 4.5–0 depending on sector. H = worst rating h = middle rating = best rating/no criticisms found Best Buys are highlighted in blue

BRAND 14 + 6 extras) (out of Ethiscore Reporting Environmental Change Climate & Toxics Pollution Habitats & Resources Oil Palm Animal Testing Farming Factory Animal Rights Human Rights Rights Workers’ Chain Management Supply Marketing Irresponsible Arms & Military Supply Technologies Controversial Call Boycott Activity Political Finance Anti-Social Ethos Company Sustainability Product COMPANY GROUP

EKO OKÉ [F&O] 15.5 H h e 2 Agrofair Europe Riverford [F&O] 15 h H h e 2 Riverford Organic Farmers Ltd OKÉ [F] 14.5 H h e 1 Agrofair Europe Riverford [O] 14 h H h e 1 Riverford Organic Farmers Ltd Abel & Cole [F&O] 13 H H h h 2 William Jackson Food Group Banacol 9.5 H h h H h H Comm. Intl. Banacol de Colom.

Waitrose Duchy Organic [F&O] 9.5 h H h h h h H h H h h h e 2 John Lewis / The Prince’s Charities Dole [O] 8.5 H h h H h H H H 1 Dole Food Company Inc Dole 7.5 H h h H h H H H Dole Food Company Inc

Co-op [F] 7 H h h h h H H h H h H h E 1 Co-operative Group Marks & Spencers [F] 7 h H h h H H H H h h h 1 Marks & Spencer Group Marks & Spencers [O] 7 h H h h H H H H h h h 1 Marks & Spencer Group Aldi [F&O] 6.5 h h H H h H H H h H h h h 2 Siepmann / Carolus-Stiftung Marks & Spencers 6 h H h h H H H H h h h Marks & Spencer Group Booths [F&O] 5.5 H h H H H H H H h H H h 2 EH Booth & Co Del Monte 5.5 H h h H H H h H h h H Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc

Waitrose [F] 5.5 h h H H h h H H H H H h h E 1 John Lewis Parntership Aldi [RA] 5 h h H H h H H H h H h h h 0.5 Siepmann / Carolus-Stiftung Ocado [F&O] 5 H h H H H h H H h H h h h H 2 Ocado Group / Marks & Spencer Booths [F] 4.5 H h H H H H H H h H H h 1 EH Booth & Co Iceland [RA] 4.5 H h H H H H H H H h H 0.5 Iceland Topco Lidl [F] 4.5 h h H H h h H H H H h h h H 1 Schwarz-Beteiligungs-KG Chiquita [RA] 4 H h H h h h h H H H h h h h H 0.5 Sucocítrico Cutrales / Safra Favorita 4 H H H h H H H H H h H Favorita Fruit / Wong Group Iceland 4 H h H H H H H H H h H Iceland Topco Lidl [RA] 4 h h H H h h H H H H h h h H 0.5 Schwarz-Beteiligungs-KG Morrisons [F&O] 4 h H H H h H H H h H h H h h H 2 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ocado [F] 4 H h H H H h H H h H h h h H 1 Ocado Group / Marks & Spencer Sainsbury’s SO Organic [F&O] 4 h H H H h h H H H H h H H H 2 J Sainsbury Booths 3.5 H h H H H H H H h H H h E H Booth & Co Chiquita 3.5 H h H h h h h H H H h h h h H Sucocítrico Cutrales / Safra Tesco [F&O] 3.5 H H H h H H H H H H H H H 2 Tesco plc Morrisons [F] 3 h H H H h H H H h H h H h h H 1 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Sainsbury’s [F] 3 h H H H h h H H H H h H H H 1 J Sainsbury Tesco [O&RA] 3 H H H h H H H H H H H H H 1.5 Tesco plc Morrisons [RA] 2.5 h H H H h H H H h H h H h h H 0.5 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Tesco [RA] 2 H H H h H H H H H H H H H 0.5 Tesco plc Asda [F&O] 1.5 h H H H h H H H H H H H H h H H 2 Walmart Fyffes [F] 1 H H H H H H H H H H H H H H 1 Sumitomo Corporation Asda [RA] 0 h H H H h H H H H H H H H h H H 0.5 Walmart Fyffes 0 H H H H H H H H H H H H H H Sumitomo Corporation

All the research behind these ratings is on www.ethicalconsumer.org Definitions of all the categories are at www.ethicalconsumer.org/our- ethical-ratings. [O] = organic [F] = Fairtrade [RA] = Rainforest Alliance m nsu er o .o c r l g Best Buys are decided by the editorial team based on the research we have undertaken, the scoring system and the unique

a insight into the issues that our editorial team has. 9 times out of 10 this will be the brand (or brands) that are top of the table but

c

i

h t sometimes an ethical company which is truly innovative scores less well on our rigid scoring system and we use the Best Buy and

e Y Recommended section to acknowledge this. A company cannot be a Best Buy if it scores worst for Supply Chain Management. BES T BU

36 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 m nsu er o .o c r l g

a

c

Threats to union i

h BEST t

members e Y BUYS BE U Anti-union actions are common, S T B including cases of violence against trade unionists. Union members and Our Best Buys are EKO OKÉ Fairtrade leaders representing the workers have and organic and OKÉ Fairtrade bananas received threats against themselves and from Agrofair, as well as Riverford’s their families, ongoing surveillance and Fairtrade and organic bananas. break-ins. Several leaders have been murdered, in Colombia, Honduras and Some banana unions in Latin America Guatemala amongst other places since and Africa are campaigning to improve conditions for female workers. Eko Oké

2016. © Banana Link Increasingly, companies create 15.5 ‘yellow unions’, which they control, Nowadays, Del Monte buys at least five choosing their own leaders and heavily times as much from the non-union encouraging workers to join the South as it produces in its own unionised organisation. Reybanpac, owner of the farms in the North of the country. Favorita brand, was accused of deducting The vast majority of these bananas membership fees from the wages of 4,000 will be sold on US markets. In the UK, workers for an association established by “the pressure for ethical sourcing” has Riverford the company and with only 70 members. ensured that the majority are imported Their Rainforest Alliance certification was from other countries like Colombia where 15 suspended for a year until they held free most plantations are at least covered and fair elections to the association in by a collective bargaining agreement, each plantation. according to Alistair Smith from BananaLink. Nonetheless, the same companies Union suppression supply both markets. “Chiquita and Dole continue to put a lot of pressure on their Over the past 10 years, many companies collective bargaining agreements with have moved their operations to areas trade unions,” Alistair Smith says, “trying RECOMMENDED where unions are most suppressed. In to keep wage increases to an absolute Guatemala, Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte minimum and cut other social benefits. We’d also recommend Riverford’s have all moved purchasing away from Only Del Monte [of the big banana organic bananas and Abel & Cole’s the unionised North of the country to the conglomerates] has been relatively open Fairtrade and organic bananas. much cheaper non-union Pacific South. to negotiation recently.”

Abel & TAKE ACTION: Cole JUSTICE FOR JORGE ALBERTO ACOSTA! 13 In November 2019, Jorge Alberto Acosta was assassinated in Honduras. Jorge was a union leader for SITRATERCO, the oldest trade union in the country, which If buying from a supermarket, we’d represents Chiquita banana workers. recommend buying from Co-op or In early 2018, workers for Chiquita had held a 77-day strike after the company Waitrose, which are amongst the moved its medical centre – which had provided full healthcare – away from the highest scoring supermarkets and only plantation and replaced it with a private practice. Military police fired live bullets at sell Fairtrade bananas. the picket-lines, and Chiquita responded with mass lay-offs. When the strike ended, Jorge and other leaders began receiving death threats, and were subjected to physical attacks, break-ins and surveillance. Government officials failed to respond and offer protection when they were informed of attacks. Jorge was shot by two men in a billiard parlour, four blocks from his home in La BRANDS TO AVOID Lima, Cortes, Honduras. The International Labour Rights Forum says that Jorge’s murder is “one in Fyffes has recently been expelled a recent brutal wave of killings, threats, kidnappings, beatings, torture, and from the Ethical Trade Initiative for disappearances of labor and social movement activists in Honduras, directed its failure to address workers’ rights at Afro-Indigenous women, LGBTQI activists, campesinos, trade unionists, and a “vehemently anti-union culture” independent journalists, opposition political activists, and many others.” at plantations in Honduras. Chiquita, The Forum is calling on the international community to denounce the murder of Dole and Favorita have also been Jorge Alberto Acosta and write to the Honduran President demanding justice. criticised for anti-union behaviour in actionnetwork.org/letters/justice-for-jorge-alberto-acosta some countries.

ethicalconsumer.org 37 SHOPPING GUIDE Bananas

Certification schemes logo. The standard focuses on more where no evidence has been provided for environmentally friendly growing, but this as a successful approach. Fairtrade also contains some protections for Nonetheless, the new standard may These serious issues workers. have some positive impacts in the banana with workers’ rights Over the years, RA has received much industry. For example, it includes more on plantations make criticism for failing to set a minimum stringent rules on the application of supporting Fairtrade price for producers or banning many of certain dangerous agrochemicals that are – which focuses the pesticides known to harm the workers widely used and are toxic for humans and on helping smaller who apply them. freshwater and wetland ecosystems. independent growers In March 2018, trade unions and Most significantly, the standard will – all the more important. BananaLink raised complaints with introduce a mandatory premium for tea, Bananas were one of the first products RA that those bearing its logo weren’t coffee, cocoa and bananas. This means to become certified under the Fairtrade respecting the right to unionise. They that producers will receive an additional label over 20 years ago. told RA that for many years it had payment on top of the retail price, some The Fairtrade label stands for the “been certifying banana and pineapple of which has to be passed on to workers following principles: companies where there is a continuing in cash or benefits in kind. It will not, Paying a fair price – Producers get a high level of union persecution and however, ensure minimum pricing, which fair price, covering the cost of production, discrimination.” Although RA initially many argue is key to improvements on cost of decent living and a reasonable engaged in dialogue, the unions broke plantations. profit. off the conversation in June 2019. They Decent working conditions – Workers said that the certification had not kept Organic on plantations, farms, in processing promises to meet with unions prior to Over a hundred plants and other businesses work in audits on certified plantations. small farmers’ decent and safe conditions and receive a RA is rolling out a new certification associations and living wage. throughout this year, for full a growing handful Development of local communities – implementation from January 2021. of larger-scale A ‘premium’ of $1 for each box of bananas In a marked change of direction, it plantations are also is paid over and above the Fairtrade will now take an ‘assess and address’ certified Organic. price, which farmers and workers approach, which – while requiring The issue of pests and diseases is tackled invest in social, environmental and farms to remediate abuses – means not through a variety of non-chemical economic developmental projects for even the worst abuses would lead to methods, such as botanical (derived from their businesses and communities. They loss of certification. Ethical Consumer plants or minerals) pesticides. Although decide democratically by committee has questioned why the certifier is not currently uncommon, another approach how to invest the premium. These combining ‘assess and address’ with known as inter-cropping is likely to projects include educational and health some red lines, outlawing the worst become increasingly important. Banana facilities, covering costs of education and malpractice. plants are grown alongside other crops vocational training, construction of roads, Indeed, whilst the assess and address such as cocoa or citrus. These can provide healthcare, microfinance, etc. approach has proved successful in the additional nutrients to the soil. They can Environmental sustainability – case of child labour on smallholder also reduce pests, as the additional plants Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are cocoa farms, RA will also be rolling it confuse some insects and encourage excluded from the Fairtrade system. out to deal with issues of forced labour, other predatory ones that eat the pests. Additionally, production techniques discrimination and (sexual) harassment – are supported that preserve valuable ecosystems and protect the health of both producers and consumers. SUPERMARKETS AND CERTIFICATIONS It is best to look for companies that are fully committed to sourcing Fairtrade. Supermarket Fairtrade Organic Fairtrade Rainforest Non- Many of the multinationals will sell some and Organic Alliance certified Fairtrade bananas: but with much of Aldi Some Some the profit going back to the companies, Asda Some All buying these may fund their other serious malpractices. Booths Some Some Co-op All Rainforest Alliance Lidl Some Some Rainforest Alliance Iceland Some Some (RA) is another Marks & Spencer Some Some Some certification scheme favoured by many Morrisons Some Some All consumer-end Sainsbury All Some companies. In particular, Tesco, Asda Tesco Some Some All and Morrisons have chosen to certify all their bananas under its green frog Waitrose All Some

38 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 Chemical bananas The banana uses more agrochemicals than any other crop in the world, with the possible exception of cotton. In the highest rainfall areas, where disease pressure is the greatest, most farmers will spend more on chemicals than paying their workers. These chemicals seep into local water systems, causing eutrophication (the rapid growth of algae in water, sapping oxygen needed by other animals and plants) and destroying aquatic life. As pests and diseases become exposed to more and more chemicals, they adapt to be more resistant – meaning that ever stronger pesticides and fungicides are developed. The polluted water is often used for drinking, cooking and washing.

The banana uses more agrochemicals than any other crop in the world, with the possible exception of cotton. Almost © Make Fruit Fair! Fruit © Make all the Bananas and the environment parents of the Carbon footprint children with Despite being freighted from halfway across the world, bananas are a relatively low- carbon food. They have a footprint of around 70gCO e – a small figure in comparison 2 disabilities to the energy and nutrients they provide. This is because they are grown in natural sunlight, meaning no intensively heated at our school greenhouses are used. They keep well, so are transported by boats rather than airfreight. And they require no packaging – because they provide their own. work on The banana, though, also shows that environmental destruction is far more complex than just carbon counting. plantations or live nearby

“For plantation workers and local 0.35 0.48 0.61 0.83 people,” campaign group BananaLink says, “the health impacts of extensive APPLES ORANGES BANANAS BREAD agrochemical use are numerous, ranging from depression and respiratory problems to cancer, miscarriages and birth defects.” In Ecuador, of the 26 active pesticide ingredients used for banana production, 7 are banned in the EU and 18 1.23 3.00 4.28 4.71 are prohibited in Denmark. The director of a school for children with disabilities in Rícaurte, Ecuador AVOCADOS BERRIES/ MILK DAIRY MILK GRAPES CHOCOLATE told Oxfam, “Almost all the parents of the children with disabilities at our school work on plantations or live nearby.” In some countries, agrochemicals are applied aerially – dropped from planes over whole areas, including onto workers, 4.77 8.00 8.29 60.24 their homes and their food. It is estimated that up to 85% of the chemicals sprayed EGGS TOMATOES CHICKEN BEEF by plane fail to land on crops. Many countries, such has Ecuador, have ruled that workers should not be in icons © Yulia Ryabokon & Viktoriia Khyzhniak | Dreamstime.com | Dreamstime.com Khyzhniak & Viktoriia Ryabokon © Yulia icons = gCO2e/kcal the fields when spraying occurs. However, they often fail to enforce such laws.

ethicalconsumer.org 39 SHOPPING GUIDE Bananas

Banana workers, particularly women, It is important to move away from only ever see between 5 and 9%. Most often can’t afford to stay out of the fields, monocultures and start producing a banana workers already live in poverty, if it would mean losing the hours’ pay. variety of bananas. But the transition is and smaller independent producers 65% of the workers that Oxfam spoke to expensive for producers and is going to be are priced out, increasing the power of in 2016 said that they continued working difficult in the face of poor prices and the conglomerates. during spraying. demand for perfect, identical fruit. In 2018, 31 Ecuadorian organisations wrote to Aldi slamming its “nonsensical” Company agrochemical policies cuts to banana prices for the third None of the banana producers in this Supermarket price consecutive year. In 2020, the guide had any policies on the use supermarket increased prices again – but of hazardous chemicals – with the wars only to the level they were at before the exception of those selling Organic and In fact, poor prices have exacerbated cut for 2019. Fairtrade. These certifications include many of the problems in the industry, According to Oxfam, just 1% of the controls on synthetic chemical use. driven by supermarkets in the Global consumer end price would be enough All other producers lost half a mark North. to close the living wage gap for banana under Pollution & Toxics, Habitats & Due to their large market share, workers in Ecuador. Resources and Workers’ Rights for the supermarkets are able to set prices for lack of policies: their suppliers. Often, they sell bananas Be alert in the aisle Banacol, Chiquita, Del Monte, Dole, as a ‘loss-leader’ at below the production Some supermarkets sell bananas Favorita and Fyffes. cost, meaning that prices are continually from other companies in the table. For squeezed. From 2000-2014, consumer example, Lidl and Iceland both sell Monoculture prices fell by over 50% in the UK although Fyffes bananas. Lots of supermarkets Monocultures – where a crop is only the living costs in major production sell bananas packaged in unnecessary grown from a single variety – often lead countries was on the rise. plastic packaging. Choosing loose to extensive agrochemical use. They Much of this loss is transferred bananas helps avoid the pollution degrade the soil, so that farmers rely on to producers or workers. While and damaging production processes ever greater quantities of fertiliser. They supermarkets keep hold of around 40% associated with this packaging. are also highly vulnerable to pests, fungi of the value in a banana sale, workers will and disease, and farmers will again rely on agrochemicals to keep the problem under control. A single disease or pest can wipe out the entire variety. 97% of bananas come from a single variety, the cavendish banana. In the 20th Century, the cavendish’s predecessor was decimated by the ‘Panama disease’, a fungus that destroyed plantations around the world. The cavendish was resistant. But experts warned that it would not stay this way long – as it too became a monoculture. In recent decades, Panama disease has again been destroying plantations in Asia, Australia and Africa. Losses in the Philippines alone have been reported at US$44 million. In August 2019, the disease was found in Colombia, attacking cavendish plantations in Latin America for the first time and causing the country to declare a national emergency. If not contained, the disease could leave thousands around the world without a vital source of sustenance and income.

GM bananas Although not yet for sale, GM bananas resistant to the disease are being Just 1% of the developed in response. This could bring consumer end with it a whole host of new problems price would be enough to close and would not fundamentally address the living wage the monoculture issue – meaning that gap for banana history could just repeat itself for a third workers in Ecuador. time.

40 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 Companies behind the brands

In 1990, the notorious United Fruit Company renamed itself Chiquita Brands International. Since then, the company has faced serious and ongoing reports of human rights abuses at its plantations. In 2019, reported violations included aerial spraying of agricultural chemicals without warnings to workers, 12-hour days, poverty wages and employment without contracts, as well as serious anti-union behaviour. Chiquita is owned by Safra Group (a global private banking group that loses marks in many of our categories for its investments) and Grupo Cutrale (which specialises in citrus products). Like Fyffes and Chiquita, Dole is Fyffes is the biggest banana supplier in Europe. Also specialising in pineapples involved in every stage of the fruit and and melons, it is involved in every stage from growing, sourcing, shipping and vegetable supply chain, from farm to ripening to distributing and marketing the fruit. Fyffes has been the focus of the shelf. It is one of the many companies Make Fruit Fair campaign since serious abuses of workers’ rights were first found currently under investigation for ‘crimes at its subsidiaries in Honduras and Costa Rica in 2015. against humanity’ during the Colombia Unions and labour rights organisations have reported “the continued systematic civil war and has been criticised for violation of the most basic labour and trade union rights, often with the complicity of continuing to put pressure on its public officials; including the non-payment of minimum wages; long and extensive collective bargaining agreements with working hours; lack of affiliation to the social security system; and lack of respect for workers. the right to bargain collectively and freely organise.” Fresh Del Monte is owned by the Abu- Over the last year, a Fyffes plantation in Honduras has been stripped of its Ghazaleh family and a number of other Fairtrade accreditation, and the company has been expelled from the Ethical Trade investors, including FMR LLC, a financial Initiative. services corporation that loses lots of The Make Fruit Fair campaign, makefruitfair.org, is demanding freedom and marks for its investments. The company fairness for Fyffes workers and is asking consumers to write to the company. is involved in a conflict in Barú, Panama. Fyffes was purchased by Sumitomo Corporation in 2017. Sumitomo is According to Front Line Defenders, involved in everything from mining and fossil fuels (including the coal industry) to “Producers in Barú have been prohibited pharmaceuticals and military trading. from selling their produce over the past months due to the implementation of a government project which seeks to dispossess over 400 producers of their lands to allow for the cultivation of bananas, reportedly by the multinational TAX AVOIDANCE company Del Monte Fresh.” Human rights We rated all the companies on their defenders are said to have been arrested likely use of tax avoidance strategies. whilst investigating the issue or observing Those that received our middle rating farm inspections. Locals say that a lost half a mark, and those that subsidiary of the company has itself been received our worst lost a whole. involved in the destruction of farms and Best: AgroFair, Booths, a local meeting hall. Del Monte does not Comercializadora Internacional sell its bananas in the UK but does supply Banacol De Colombia SA, Co-op Group them to other places in Europe and the (Fair Tax Mark certified), Iceland US. Its tinned fruit and juices are sold in Topco, John Lewis Partnership, Marks the UK. & Spencer Group, Wm Morrison AgroFair imported the first Fairtrade Supermarkets, Stiepmann Stifung/ banana (its Oké banana) into Europe Carolus-Stifung, William Jackson Food in 1996. Since then it has expanded to Group other Fairtrade tropical fruits. It says Middle: Ocado. that its fruit is “grown mainly by small Worst: Asda, Dole, Favorita, Fresh holding associations and cooperatives”. Del Monte, J Sainsbury, Schwarz 30% of the company is owned by farmer Beteiligungs-KG, Sucocítrico Cutrale/ cooperatives. Sufra Group, Sumitomo, Tesco.

ethicalconsumer.org 41 NEWS The UK ethical market Growing green markets This year marks 20 years of our Average Ethical reporting on the size of the UK ethical Spending per consumer market. Household This report was introduced in 1999 to bridge the gap between consumers’ claims to shop ethically and the actual impact of their consumption decisions, and was this year sponsored by The Co-operative Group. Back in 1999, the total size of ethical consumer markets in the UK was just £11.2 billion. Today, on a conservative basis, the figure is £41.1 billion. This represents an almost four-fold increase, while over the same period UK household expenditure has grown by just over 2%. Jo Whitfield, Co-op Food Chief Executive, said: “We should rightly celebrate the growth that we’ve seen in ethical markets in the UK over the last 20 years. “UK businesses and NGOs have pioneered many of these developments and today we have multi-billion-pound markets that either didn’t exist or, if they did, most mainstream businesses electricity tariffs) has increased eight-fold were unconvinced, if not cynical, of their from over £1 billion 20 years ago to in potential to succeed. billion last year compared with just over excess of £10 billion last year. “Going forward, consumers will £1 billion in 1999. The past 20 years has seen significant continue to play a pivotal role in the To put that into perspective, 20 years increases in spending to improve growth of markets for more sustainable ago the retail Fairtrade market was £21.8 energy efficiency in the home. This is products and businesses.” million and today it is estimated that UK an area where progressive government In particular, we have seen the most consumers spend almost £290 million intervention has, from time to time, significant growth in Ethical Food and on Fairtrade bananas alone, and the total made sure that healthy markets exist and Drink and on Green Home expenditure. Fairtrade market is estimated to be worth consumers have responded by spending Ethical Food and Drink (which includes £1.6 billion. some £7 billion in 2018, against £0.4 billion Fairtrade, organic, vegetarian and Meanwhile, spending on Green back in 1999. plant-based alternatives, and free-range Home (which includes energy-efficient Download the full Ethical Consumer eggs), remains the largest segment of appliances, energy-efficient boilers, Markets Report 2019 from the Ethical the market with an annual spend of £12 ethical cleaning products and green Consumer website.

UK Ethical Economy 1999-2018

42 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 COLUMNIST Ethical novice

COLIN BIRCH with a light-hearted guide to trying, and sometimes failing, to be ethical. Milk

I’ve always loved cows’ milk – I wouldn’t us to drink tea and coffee black he coconut-based milk and even milk of breastfeed as a baby and I’ve always wouldn’t have given us taste buds, would magnesia (though, to be fair, that was for a assumed this was because I thought it he? drunken bet). wiser to skip the inferior breast milk I I’ve always put off switching to non- The traditional go-to non-dairy was being offered dairy milk in alternative is soya milk, but I’m not and move on to the ...the economics of the past, partly keen. Yes, it turns me into a more ethical superior bovine because I didn’t consumer, but it also turns my coffee beverage as soon the industry have want people into a more undrinkable beverage. Never as possible. thinking I was mind the Oasis split, if you want to see a As a child, such become so insane lactose intolerant. really messy break-up just check out what was my love of I wanted them a hot Americano does to soya milk when milk that I actually that the idea of to know that my you pour it in. felt uneasy about constant flatulence, Friends have told me that oat milk is allowing my Coco- one cow being sold bloating, cramps a pleasant alternative, but I have trouble Pops to turn it and diarrhoea were with the concept, because if I mix it brown and I had for a paltry three down to copious with my breakfast porridge my brain an unswerving beer consumption, can’t quite grasp where the porridge admiration for beans in ‘Jack and not an aversion ends and the milk begins, and having a The Milky Bar Kid, to milk. However, metaphysical crisis about the contents of feeling he was the Beanstalk’ now seems the one’s bowl of cereal isn’t really the best fully justified in right time to make way to start the day. using a handgun now seems like a the change, if only I’ve also been told that almond milk is to ensure plentiful because there nutty, though I’m not sure whether that’s supplies. Basically, good deal. are currently so in terms of its taste or just the general I consumed so many non-dairy idea of it. Call me old fashioned, but I want much that my white milk moustache was alternatives for me to choose from. I’ve my milk to taste milky – often accompanied by a full beard and been told to try almond milk, oat milk, if I want something that sideburns. cashew milk, rice milk, tastes nutty, I’ll have So, when you’ve spent your early life hazelnut milk, hemp nuts! lapping it up to that degree, it does come milk, Basically, I’m going as a shock when you grow up to discover to have to do a lot of just how unethical and harmful milk experimenting until I production is. The strong bones and teeth find the non-dairy milk it gives us as kids end up being matched alternative that’s right for by the strong sense of guilt we feel about me but, at the end of it all, drinking it. I should be able to feel a lot Since researching the environmental better about myself, not impact and animal cruelty involved in just in terms of my its production, I’ve ditched my love of ethical footprint, but in lactose. With some dairy farmers treating terms of my health too, their cattle almost as badly as the big because I’m drinking so supermarkets treat their dairy farmers, much of it that the constant the economics of the industry have dashing to the toilet is become so insane that the idea of one cow doing wonders being sold for a paltry three beans in ‘Jack for my and the Beanstalk’ now seems like a good fitness. deal. Yes, I know there are a growing number of ethical dairy farmers who show compassion to their creatures, but unless we have cows rising up ‘Animal Farm’-style to take control of their means of production, it feels like it’s basically impossible for any traditional milk to be truly ethical. That being the case I’ve been left with only one option: Going ‘non-dairy’, as giving up every kind of milk is just not

doable. Let’s face it, if God had intended | Dreamstime.com © Ratpack2

ethicalconsumer.org 43 NEWS Money

BlackRock UK PENSION divests from coal FUNDS FAILING ON CLIMATE In January 2020, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management CHANGE fund, announced that it was taking steps to divest from the coal sector. The A report by the UK Sustainable Finance company’s CEO, Larry Fink, stated that and Investment Association has the firm was ‘in the process of removing found that pension scheme trustees’ © Greenpeace / Jiri Rezac © Greenpeace from our discretionary active investment policies around climate change and portfolios the public securities (both debt organisation, BlackRock’s policy only other environmental, societal and and equity) of companies that generate covers a fraction of the coal industry governmental (ESG) issues are ‘vague more than 25% of their revenues from because it only applies to companies and non-committal’, with many failing to thermal coal production, which we aim to that sell thermal coal and not those that comply with their basic legal obligation to accomplish by the middle of 2020.’1 actually burn it. Furthermore, as the publish their policies on these issues.6 BlackRock has assets under policy only applies to companies that Following an investigation in 2014 management worth a staggering $7.4tn,2 generate more than 25% of their revenue by the Law Commission, which found and is heavily invested in the fossil fuel from coal, it will not apply to some of the a common belief among pension fund industry. According to the Guardian, its world’s biggest coal mining companies, trustees that considering ESG issues listed funds contain a total of $87.3bn like BHP Billton or the Russian Ural would violate their fiduciary duty to act invested in fossil fuels, with effective Mining Metallurgial company, as these in the best interests of their beneficiaries, management of 1.35bn tons of coal.3 It companies also sell other metals and ores, the Department for Work and Pensions also has shareholdings in a number of which keep their coal revenues below developed regulations requiring trustees major UK brands, including Next (10%), 25% of total revenue. to publish ESG policies by October 2019. Tesco (7%), and Whitbread Plc (5%) which Black Rock’s coal divestment The aim of these regulations was to owns Premier Inn. announcement came among a host encourage trustees to consider factors The news should be seen as a success of other promises, including greater such as climate change as a fundamental for campaigners: the world’s largest asset transparency, aimed at accelerating the part of their fiduciary duty, alongside management company setting dated and firm’s sustainability efforts. ‘Our goal maximising monetary return, and not in measurable targets for coal divestment is to be the global leader in sustainable tension with it. is certainly a step in the right direction. investing’, proclaimed Mr Fink.4 ‘A However, despite the publication of However, the move does not go nearly far company cannot achieve long-term such policies being a legal requirement enough. profits without embracing purpose and for trustees, the report found ‘an According to Urgewald, an considering the needs of a broad range of appallingly poor rate of compliance’, with environmental and human rights stakeholders.’5 two-thirds failing to publish any policies at all. Pension schemes wield power: with an estimated value of £1.6 trillion in assets, Carbon divested funds: financial performance UK occupational pension schemes are among the world’s largest investors. Carbon divested fund 5-year cumulative Ethiscore Dramatic changes to how they invest are growth to as of essential in the fight against the climate 29/01/2020 06/2018 crisis. Janus Henderson Global Sustainable Equity Fund 92.6 6 The report recommends the government should take steps to address WHEB Sustainability 71.7 16 this non-compliance, but also notes that one of the biggest barriers to achieving Aviva Liontrust Sustainable Future European Growth 66.9 7 governance improvements in the sector is Triodos Sustainable Pioneer 63.2 15.5 the fragmented nature of the UK pensions industry. Jupiter Ecology 57.9 6.5 For information about how you can switch to a more ethical pension provider, Quilter Cheviot Climate Assets 50* 4 see our Ethical Pensions product guide on our website or in EC 172. Sarasin Sustainable Equity Real Estate 34.4 7.5

Castlefield BEST Sustainable Income Inst Inc 16.9 15 References: 1. www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor- relations/blackrock-client-letter 2. www.blackrock.com/sg/ Standard Life Equity Impact Global (less than 5 years old) 3.5 en/about-us 3. www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/14/ blackrock-says-climate-crisis-will-now-guide-its-investments BlackRock Client Letter www.blackrock.com/corporate/ IA Global (for comparison) 67.1 - 4. 5.

Data from trustnet.com Data from investor-relations/larry-fink-ceo-letter6. UKSIF: Changing Course? How pensions are approaching climate change and ESG * Data from quiltercheviot.com issues following recent UK reforms (2020)

44 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 NEWS Tax justice The silicon six and their $100 billion tax gap

new report has laid bare the Investor warning extent of tax avoidance from six TAX CONDUCT RANKING of the biggest US tech firms (WORST FIRST) The report also issued a stark warning The report examined the tax to investors. The collective tax Aconduct of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, ‘contingencies’ of the Six have rocketed Netflix, Google and Microsoft in the ten 1ST: AMAZON in recent years, increasing fourfold from years since 2009 and, not unexpectedly, $8.9bn at the end of 2010 to $47bn in found evidence of industrial-scale tax 2ND: FACEBOOK 2019. They have also accrued a further avoidance. $5.7bn in connected interest and Researchers, however, found that the 3RD: GOOGLE penalties. In total, the Six have more than corporation tax paid had been even lower $50bn of unrealised net income due to than was commonly understood. The 4TH: NETFLIX their aggressive tax positions. gap, for example, between the current tax Paul Monaghan from Fair Tax Mark provisions (the amount the companies said, “Investors need to look afresh at were expected to pay) and the corporation 5TH: APPLE the future impact that this will have on tax actually paid was $100.2bn. All were company valuations and income flows. found to be shifting profits to tax havens, 6TH: MICROSOFT Not least because the OECD is now especially Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg leading multilateral efforts to address and the Netherlands. the tax challenges from digitalisation of The report, called ‘The Silicon Six it is able to undercut other more ethical the economy, and is looking to ensure and their $100 billion global tax gap’, retailers in multiple sectors leading to the that profitable multinationals pay tax was published by Fair Tax Mark, the closure of many smaller businesses. This wherever they have significant consumer- campaigning certification scheme in turn further reduces the tax revenue facing activities and generate their for good tax conduct established in that governments can raise to spend on profits.” Manchester in 2013 with help from poorer and more vulnerable members of Campaigners have also long been Ethical Consumer. the communities that Amazon operates pushing for a change in international in. accounting practice to help bridge this tax gap. Alex Cobham, Chief Executive, Amazon – the top tax Tax Justice Network, said: “This report Going viral demonstrates why we need a fundamental avoider reprogramming of the world’s approach Amazon was found to be the worst culprit Since its publication, the Silicon Six to tax, based on a unitary taxation. and had paid just $3.4bn in corporation report has been covered in The Guardian, A unitary approach to tax means we taxes in the last decade, whilst Apple had The Independent, The Sunday Times, the can finally make sure multinational paid $93.8bn and Microsoft had paid Daily Mail and The Spectator in the UK. corporations contribute tax based on $46.9bn. In the US it was covered by Fox Business, where they employ workers and do This is a staggering variance, especially CNBC, Fortune Magazine, Vice and business, not where they rent mailboxes as Amazon’s revenue over this period Gizmodo amongst others. and hide ledgers.” exceeded that of Microsoft’s by almost In Europe it was covered by reporters $80bn. Fair Tax Mark said this means in Austria, Belgium, Poland, Spain and Download the full report here: Amazon’s effective tax rate was just 12.7% Ireland. And in the rest of the world it was https://fairtaxmark.net/tax-gap-of-silicon- over the decade when the headline tax discussed in Canada, China, Malaysia, six-over-100-billion-so-far-this-decade rate in the US has been 35% for most of Russia and India. This is not counting that period. the specialist accountancy, tax and other Ethical Consumer has been calling publications which pored over its detail. for a boycott of Amazon since 2013. We The companies have subsequently been argue that its systematic avoidance of engaged in a not-very-convincing defence tax means, amongst other things, that of their positions. The Silicon Six

Amazon’s effective tax rate and their was just 12.7% over the decade $100 billion global tax gap

when the tax rate in the US December 2019 had been 35% for most of that period. © Fair Tax Mark 2019

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46 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 NEWS Boycotts

Grassroots alliance communications policy, which tackles Amazon restricts them Athena, a new alliance of organisations from publicly based in the US, is campaigning against commenting on Amazon. The coalition brings together its business, in activists, advocates, policy experts and solidarity with academics along with organisations colleagues who representing workers, small business had been warned owners, people of colour, immigrants, and they could be fired local people. for speaking out It states that it is “coming together to against its climate create an economy where everyone can practices. Workers thrive, defend our climate, safeguard had initially our communities from surveillance, and Ongoing opposition criticised Amazon for pursuing deals with expand our democracy.” The new year has seen ongoing the oil and gas industry and providing The coalition is demanding the right to: opposition to the multinational in the US, services to companies like BP and Shell.2,3 l Govern their own communities, by where the company is based. “It is unconscionable for Amazon to tackling Amazon’s sweetheart tax deals In January Seattle City Council passed continue helping the oil and gas industry and draining of public resources. a bill restricting corporate donations in extract fossil fuels,” Amelia Graham- l Put their health before the bottom line local elections after Amazon, which has McCann, Senior Business Analyst for the by ending Amazon’s reliance on, and its headquarters in the city, donated more company commented, “while trying to profit from, the oil and gas industries than $1.5 million during the previous silence employees who speak out.”4 fuelling pollution and the climate crisis. election. Along with several other large Now Athena says l Shield their economies so they can corporations, Amazon sought to oust that it is coming thrive without Amazon’s control. candidates who had supported plans together “to stop l Protect people from Amazon’s for a new tax on the company in 2018, Amazon’s injustices”. dangerous surveillance that tracks and revenues from which were earmarked Ethical Consumer mines personal data for profit and fuels for affordable housing and homelessness continues to call a the harmful and discriminatory policing services.1 boycott of Amazon of immigrants and communities of colour. At the end of January, more than 350 for its aggressive tax Its formation in November follows Amazon employees spoke out against the avoidance practices. growing criticism of Amazon over recent conglomerate’s environmental policies. See https://athenaforall.org for more years. The workers broke the company’s information.

Boycott of Kirin called over links with Burmese military

The International Campaign Economic Holdings, a company controlled when those very forces were carrying for the Rohingya (IRC) has by, and for the benefit of, the Burmese out ethnic cleansing.” called for a boycott of Kirin military, which carried out an ethnic Kirin owns Fourpure Brewing Group over its links with cleansing campaign against the Rohingya Company in the UK, as well as a 24% the military in Myanmar in 2017.6 stake in Brooklyn Breweries, owner of (Burma). IRC says the The Japanese multinational also Brooklyn Lager. Its Kirin Ichiban beers company is “legitimizing admitted that its subsidiary made are also sold in the UK. the military and providing donations totalling USD $30,000 to the The company appears on the Burma them with profits as military and authorities during the ethnic Campaign’s ‘Dirty List’, which names they face accusations of cleansing. The first donation was made international corporations doing genocide in the UN’s top to the military’s Commander-in-Chief business with the military or involved court.”5 during a televised ceremony, in which in projects linked to human rights Kirin Group is a he said it would be used in part to fund violations or environmental destruction Japanese conglomerate, “security personnel and state service in the country. Apple, Google, Facebook, specialising in food, personnel”.7 Huawei and Toshiba also feature on the drink and healthcare “It beggars belief that any international list.8 products. It operates investor would make donations to a brewery company Myanmar’s military,” Seema Joshi, as a joint venture with head of Business and Human Rights at Brands to boycott: Fourpure Brewing, the Union of Myanmar Amnesty International stated, “at a time Brooklyn Lager, Kirin beer.

References: 1. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/13/blow-to-amazon-as-seattle-passes-new-political-spending-restrictions.html; https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/477522-seattle-takes- aim-at-amazon-over-political-spending?fbclid=IwAR0AwmqjgmYEI6jA6Sc6szE3hSUmrDPRiXP2EKWbx01cEhQf9UIi3ZsC0VQ 2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/26/amazon- employees-plan-mass-defiance-company-communications-policy-support-colleagues3. https://gizmodo.com/amazon-is-aggressively-pursuing-big-oil-as-it-stalls-ou-1833875828 4. https://medium. com/@amazonemployeesclimatejustice/amazon-employees-share-our-views-on-company-business-f5abcdea849 5. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-kirin-end-your-partnership-with-burmas- army 6. https://burmacampaign.org.uk/take-action/kirin 7. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/japan-investigate-brewer-kirin-over-payments-to-myanmar-military-amid-ethnic- cleansing-of-rohingya 8. https://burmacampaign.org.uk/take-action/dirty-list

ethicalconsumer.org 47 ETHICAL CONSUMER Letters

Escaping Amazon acquisitions. Certainly, in the case of Innocent, Coke is using them to learn Just wondering how to close an account from and is keeping at arm’s length. It’s at Amazon – I’ve tried a few times but it a difficult balance but I feel to tar Ecover £4·25 182 Jan/Feb 2020 www.ethicalconsumer.org seems that, even if you ask them to close with the same brush may not be a fair your account (I don’t use it now), it is representation of the Ecover brand virtually impossible to wade through all – yes, profits go towards a less than We reveal their obfuscations to actually do so. Have ethical owner but where do you draw you worked out how to do this (relatively) the line? I think this whole area – Ben the ethical easily? I now conflate Amazon with the & Jerry’s being another example – of positives & evil empire and need to find a way to ethical businesses being taken over by negatives defeat them!! non or less ethical ones could do with of batteries Steve some further investigation. Paul SHOPPING GUIDES TO Ed: Deleting your Amazon account is far Batteries from straight forward! But if you follow The acquisition of smaller, more Broadband Ed: Cameras this thread you should be able to find ethical businesses is a difficult issue Email providers your way out of the Amazon labyrinth. and it highlights a reoccurring problem Subscription TV TVs 1. Find the page titled ‘About Closing within ‘free’ markets: the tendency Your Account’, which is in ‘Managing of capital to monopolise – for smaller PLUS Your Account’ then ‘Account Settings’. businesses to be swallowed up by their Updated: Our list of oppressive regimes You can also find this page by searching larger competitors. We appreciate ‘About Closing Your Account’ plus that a smaller company may maintain ‘Amazon’ in your web browser. some sense of independence, but 2. Read the information found on this ultimately the larger company holds page. Note especially: ‘If you contact us control and also reaps the profits. It to close your account, please let us know would be wrong, in our opinion, to that you’ve read and understood the advise consumers to buy from a small, above information and that you agree to seemingly ethical brand if it had been the terms of closing your account. This acquired by an unethical company. Our will mean that your request can be dealt policy is that we ‘follow the money’ up a with more quickly.’ business’s chain of ownership. We want 3. Then scroll to the bottom of the page. consumers to understand exactly where Under the ‘Let Us Help You’ section, their money is ending up when they select ‘Help’. purchase a product so they can make a 4. On the next page, scroll down to the choice informed by the bigger picture. section ‘Browse Help Topics’. Select ‘Need More Help?’ and then click on ‘Contact Us’. Ethical ratings as a 5. On the ‘Contact Us’ page, under Step 1, select ‘Prime or Something else’. legal requirement? Under Step 2, click on the drop-down Your ratings have been helpful and menu and select ‘Account settings’. A eye-opening but unfortunately are second drop-down will appear below. not widely available to the average Select ‘Close my account.’ shopper who may not have the time, 6. Step 3 will appear, titled ‘How would money nor motivation to research the you like to contact us?’ Select either, companies behind their purchases. I ‘Email’, ‘Phone’, or ‘Chat’. strongly believe that it should be a legal Good Luck! requirement for companies to display their ethical rating on packaging, much like traffic light food labelling which Ethics & acquisitions was a government initiative aimed at improving public health. I believe that Firstly, to say that I think the work that if companies were made to display their you do with Ethical Consumer is hugely ethical score on packaging it would have valuable. So, within this context, I was the following positive results: not convinced by the assessment made l Greater Consumer Awareness – If the by Ethical Consumer on Ecover based on ethical information were to be displayed their new status as one of the Johnson clearly on each item on the shelf, the companies. As with the purchase of customer would be able to make better Innocent by Coke, I understand there shopping choices as quickly as it takes are some very strong walls between the them to check the price. This law would main business and these new ethical likely increase the profits of more

48 Ethical Consumer March/April 2020 ETHICAL CONSUMER Letters ethical companies and consequently in our shops. We would need a huge decrease the profits of companies that are amount of resources (and researchers) benefiting from destroying the planet. to rate all these companies and ensure l Company Pressure – As companies that the ratings remain up to date. Rating would be forced to have greater company a company’s ethics is far more difficult transparency they would (hopefully) be and subjective than recording the inclined to clean up their act, especially nutritional information in its products. if there is a noticeable difference in But we hope that these issues could be consumer spending habits. overcome as such a system would be l Increased Ethical Ranges in Stores – brilliant if rolled out. Supermarkets would likely want to be seen to stock a greater number of ethical products so not to lose any concerned To wash or to throw? shoppers. If you haven’t done so already, I would Can you give some advice as to whether like to make a petition and campaign it is best for the environment to wash to make it a legal requirement for things or use products made from companies to display their ethical score recycled material and throw them away on all packaging as I believe it would e.g. cotton handkerchiefs or tissues be a good start in altering the current made from recycled materials? unethical status quo. I have researched Laurel different online ethical ratings available but would really like to use Ethical Ed: There are always many variables Consumer’s as an example in my at play, which makes a definite answer petition as the scoring is the clearest to difficult, but in general it is much better understand. I would be grateful for any to reuse and wash items than buy new advice or information that might help me items, even if they are recycled. Washing with my (not so) evil master plan! items will have an environmental Eva cost, but it is likely to be less than the production of new goods. Ed: Thank you for proposing this idea Eva, such a system would be fantastic and please do use us as an example. There are some difficulties though. We welcome readers’ letters. Letters Firstly, most companies would fight may be edited for reasons of space tooth and claw against this, and I or clarity. If you do not want letters imagine the current Tory government or emails to be published, please would listen to their concerns. mark them ‘Not for publication’. Our Furthermore, there are thousands and address is on page 3, or email us at thousands of companies selling produce [email protected]

ethicalconsumer.org 49 INSIDE VIEW A stitch in time

SIMON BIRCH talks to Bryony Moore about her work with a pioneering project that’s challenging the fashion industry.

ryony Moore is on a mission – Bryony Moore, one of the with a sewing machine. founders of the groundbreaking Stitched Up project. The Manchester-based activist is taking on the environmentally Bdestructive fashion industry one stitch at a time. How? By getting people to rethink their clothes-shopping habits through teaching them the skills they need to keep their clothes firmly in their wardrobe and, crucially, out of the dustbin. “It's estimated that every year in the UK we send around 300,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill,” says Moore. And there's more bad news: “Textile production creates more greenhouse gas emissions annually than all international flights and maritime shipping combined,” states Moore. Not good. Along with two other friends, Moore helped set up Stitched Up in 2011, a not- for-profit co-op based in Manchester. “Our name, Stitched Up, refers to the

way we feel that the fashion industry Up © Stitched affects its workers, shoppers and the planet,” explains Moore, adding that. “All three of us come from a creative got. Being creative, practical and visual is The message from Moore is simple: background and have a shared liking of a really good way to engage people in the by keeping our clothes in use for longer clothes and style. However, we also have a issues,” says Moore. and by swapping, upcycling and repairing shared concern about the environmental “Our base acts as a hub where people them, we can make big reductions in and ethical impact of the fashion can get together and learn new skills to greenhouse gas emissions. industry.” help them keep the “Sustainable Having been a researcher for five same clothes they fashion should be years with Ethical Consumer and with an already have and It's estimated for everyone and interest in the fashion industry, Moore not throw them it doesn't matter knows only too well just how difficult it is away just because, that every year what age or gender to bring about meaningful change within for example, a zip's you are,” believes the fashion industry: broken or a tear in the UK we Moore. “I got to know in detail how the fashion needs fixing.” “So, our next industry works and its massively negative “Most people send around stage is to increase impact, especially regarding workers' think that they'll the access to our rights.” get rid of their 300,000 tonnes work by working “I realised that the industry wasn't trousers if they with a wide range going to change any time soon, so I get a small hole of clothing to of people. This decided to do something practical about in them but once includes vulnerable it,” adds Moore, explaining why she they're shown how landfill adults and young helped launch Stitched Up. to fix this they're people as well really pleased with as working in So how is Stitched Up taking on themselves.” low-income areas of Manchester. It's the fast fashion industry? “It's all about learning how to repair important that we're not just reaching Almost ten years on from their launch, clothes, which is something our parents middle-class white women.” Stitched Up now runs a packed and grandparents used to do, and to learn programme with everything from sewing how to dress more sustainably,” explains And what of the future? and upcycling workshops to clothes Moore, adding that: “The plan is to stay in Manchester but swaps and sustainable fabric sales. “There's now a real skills gap because open more branches,” says Moore, “What we aim to do is to get people sewing isn't being taught in schools adding that: to stop shopping for new clothes and any more as it's been axed like so many “ideally every town and city in the instead start fixing what they've already creative subjects.” country would have a version of us.”

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