Pasta as Stir-Sticks

I am almost done changing the cafe. Roaster chimney install on Thursday - checked! New sign install on Fri or Mon - Checked! contractor quoting me on new windows -checked!, Cooperativas de Mujeres Artesanas de los Altos de Chiapas brought some items in - checked! Fair Trade clothing meeting - checked!, Fair Apparel meeting - checked! Back patio benches arrival- checked!, meeting with local Fair Trade chocolate maker, chocoland - checked! Confirmed packaging for teas/cocoa/coffee - checked!, Green beans arrival next week- checked! Meeting with the director of Threads of Wrath to be filmed in cafe and so on and on....

My day is brutal today! My goodness. Doing business ethically is not easy and a lot of research, reading and discussion. And lastly, it is not usually the cheapest. And it has to make sense.
So, when I was finally fed-up with using stir sticks (the last of the package I inherited from the last cafe) and customers telling me I can maybe try using linguine as stir-sticks (biodegradable), we got into an discussion. It is very preppy to use stir-sticks and some cafes are beginning to switch because it is environmental friendly but to me, it is food! To me, it is wasteful. Some people are lacking food yet I am using pasta as stir sticks. Wheat prices are on the raise and in some countries, wheat is scare!

Do we actually question things? In this case using pasta as stir sticks or are we caught up in all the nice marketing and brainwashed with the term "environmental friendly" and "biodegradable"? Just because someone say it is environmental or the packaging say biodegradable. Are we actually knowledgeable enough to understand what does that mean? Sometimes, we went to extreme measures not because it is actually good for mother earth but because it is hip! There is nothing wrong with being hip but we need to understand what we do and ask ourselves why do we do it?

When I decide to buy local (as much as I possibly can), be as green, as organic and healthier as I can in my products, I get deeper into mud. Issues pertaining our world, our connections to each other and globalization stare me straight in my face. I need an education. It helped me decide on topics and forums I wish to host in the cafe. I hope by understanding more, we can make decision clearly and not wrapped in pretty marketing bullshit.

Come tomorrow, I will start using spoons and not stir sticks at the condiment table. Something I have been wanting to do since Day 1.

And so, the cafe hopes to screen the move "Threads of Wrath" at end of June and also in July, we will have a forum on "Globalization and its effects on us". A forum with all my suppliers - dialogue on why we do what we do. All of them have signed up!
And we will have a party. We will mix seriousness with double amount of fun :)

Give me a shot of tequila!