Market Farming

[Andrea <elsaella AT yahoo.com>]

Hello everyone,

 

Funny to see that this topic resulted in sooooo....many different reactions. I am a little surprised to see that even in the United States a lot of people seem to dislike Wal-Mart so much.

I am in Canada and up here lots of folk hate Wal-Mart because they say it is owned by Americans, and that all the profits leave Canada to go back into the pockets of a foreign owner.

Well that said: Surprising to see that Wal-Mart is making big profits up here. I guess that means some Canadians( a lot to be exact) still go shopping there. Why?

Well,in my personal opinion? Convenience (where do you think Convenience Store got it's name from)? It is much faster and practical to do all the shopping in one place, rather than buy meat at the butcher's, vegetables at the farmer's market, shoes at the shoe store, books at the bookstore etc.  But what about all the fun one can have going to those shops, all the new people you get to meet at those special places?

Ok ok I know, people do not have time to do all this anymore! We are in a big hurry. We work too much. So I guess we all make more money right? Ya right....

Before I go shopping I make a list of things I need before going to the store. A '' I need''  list. Not a '' I want'' list. Have you ever had a list, going to Wal-Mart buying the items on the list, and then once you get to the cash register notice that your basket has mysteriously filled up, and you end up buying a lot of unnecessery stuff?

We are overconsuming. We all know that much.We are spoiled. We are used to getting what we want. We don't know anymore that 12 pair of shoes in your closet is luxury, We don't get it that food is made to feed us, not satisfy us. ( A lot of us never hear our stomach grumbling because we are hungry. We don't know what hunger is)

Wether it's Wal-Mart or any other big surface store, what they all hope for is for people to fill up their baskets, spend their money.

Well either we reduce spending, and can then afford to work less, or work more 'cause we don't seem to get by with what we earn right now anyway anymore.

Just my humble opinion.

Oh don't forget to leave out that note with the special instructions for the cleaning lady before you leave for work this morning, and don't forget to tell the nanny that you might run late tonight, and if she might be able to have supper with the kids tonight?

Hope nobody is offended by this. But if you are, I hope I made a difference.  Sometimes we get mad at people for saying stuff.....but when we really look at it, we see that there might be some truth to it. Believe me, it happens to me too. It's called learning from others.

I am practising voluntary simplicity. Yes it is voluntary and I feel priviliged for that . I stopped overspending. I work less, I get to walk the dogs, I birdwatch, I garden, I sing when I clean my house, I hang my clothes on the line, I eat local stuff from my garden or from the market. I get to spend time with my boyfriend, I still write letters to my family, I still love my job, and I AM THE HAPPIEST PERSON ON EARTH.

Have a good day everyone.

Andrea Weber

Quebec, Canada

 

 

 

 

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Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! 
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