Ethical Aberdeen
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ethical shopping
Male
24 years old
United Kingdom
Last Login: 10/28/2008
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About me:
First of all I wanna just say that I'm not trying to tell people how i think they should lead their lives or whatever, the point of this site is just to collect loads of info on places in the centre of Aberdeen. I know ethical is a really horribly pretentious word to use in this sense but I couldn't think of anything better, sorry. Also I'm not a crazy hippy or anything, well, not quite. And also I don't claim to be an expert on 'ethical living', i want people to add to or dispute what I've said so that eventually this page can be extensive and useful
Ethical obviously means a lot of different things to different people (I'm looking for a deep quote on ethics here from some intelligent, old greek guy preferably, but if u wanna have a go yourself thats cool too) so this site will just provide info on where to buy stuff that covers a wideish range of mainstream ethical shopping. So there's some stuff on Fairtrade products, local stuff, vegetarian, veganism etc while avoiding supermarkets
BUYING LOCAL
BENEFITS
- Your food hasn't been flown, shipped or driven for hundreds or thousands of miles before it gets to the shop, cutting down on carbon emissions.
- The produce you get is almost definitely going to be fresher than the stuff in the supermarket.
- You'll be able to ask (mostly) friendly people questions about what your buying, and they'll actually know what they're talking about.
- The supply line is also significantly cut down meaning a fairer price for the producer and, opposed to popular belief, a cheaper price for you.
SHOPS/LOCATIONS IN ABERDEEN
ABERDEEN MARKET
(8-10 Market St) If you don't have much time to shop around then here's the place to go. Downstairs there is a local:
Greengrocer - locally grown fresh fruit and veg (mainly potatoes, carrots, green veg, mushrooms, onions, turnip) and also a wide selection of fruit and veg from further afield if you want to supplement your Scottish diet with something a bit more exotic.
Baker - Thains Bakery, popular local baker, wide selection of baker-related goods including fresh bread
Butcher - being vegetarian I'm not an expert but I'm told it is good quality and good value. As well as the usual assortment of dead animal it also sells localish cheese
Fishmonger - good selection, also sells local eggs. Less local pulses like lentils and split peas, and oatcakes also available
ABERDEEN COUNTRY FAIR - Belmont Street on the last Saturday of every month (9am til 5pm) Website
"A typical Aberdeen Country Fair will feature everything from Aberdeen Angus beef, fish landed at Aberdeen and Peterhead Harbours, local fruit and vegetables, baking, cheeses, confectionary, Scottish whisky, wines and handmade crafts" (taken from website)
FRUIT AND VEG STALL The Green. Friday and Saturday only
Offers a similar selection to the indoor market minus the non-local stuff. Also has really good oatcakes and other biscuits and oatmeal. There is some non-food stuff like plants and flowers, and some bird food things as well
GRAMPIAN HEALTH FOODS - 5 Crown Street. Website
Small selection of local bread, oatcakes/other biscuits, free-range eggs, oatmeal and a few other bits and pieces.
FAIRTRADE
For a run-down on what fairtrade is about check out www.fairtrade.org.uk
Fairtrade can be quite a contentious issue: a lot of people say it doesn't work and that it's not the way we should move forward but I haven't read anything yet that's convinced me of this. However I do have some issues with supermarkets and fairtrade. They markup these products by a substancial amount when the producers are only getting a few extra pence per item. Basically supermarkets are exploiting peoples good intentions and making money out of it. There also seems to be an amount of irony in supermarkets selling fairtrade products: what does this imply about their hundreds of other products. Anyway, if you're gonna buy in supermarkets anyway then look out for the logo (fair trade and the fairtrade label aren't synonomous but the label is becoming ever popular and it applies in most cases although not to some stuff in the Third World Centre or Nature's Larder).
Aberdeen became a fairtrade city in March 2004. Here is a link to Aberdeen's fairtrade directory
Third World Centre - Correction Wynd.
Loads of fair trade stuff: food (cereals, nuts, chocolate, sauces, snacks, dried fruit, wide selection of tea and coffee, and more), clothes, art, cards, jewellery, crafts and loads more. Excellent place to buy handmade presents for people. Also the staff are really friendly and helpul, it's a really nice place (even if you have church issues) and there's a 10% discount for poor, hard done by students.
Check out their webpage here
OXFAM - Rosemount Viaduct, Back Wynd, Chapel Street
All the shops have different stuff, the one on Rosemount Viaduct probably has the most. Sells chocolate, tea, coffee, nuts, dried fruit, fruit juice, cocoa, fudge and more
COOP - Holburn Street, Rosemount Place, George Street, Union Street, Back Hilton Road
I know I said I don't think supermarkets and fairtrade go that well but Coop have done a lot to promote it and committed much more to it than other supermarkets which could afford it much more easily. All of its own brand coffee and chocolate is fairtrade. Potentially offers loads of other stuff but this is limited to what the individual shop chooses to buy in. Products range from chocolate brownies, cake, shortbread, sugar to wine. There are 20 different lines of fresh fairtrade fruit that Coop can stock, you're local Aberdeen store probably doesn't stock any. Next time you're in mention that you'd like to see more fair trade items on sale or if you're feeling particularly revolutionary try writing a letter to the manager of you're local shop. Here's a link to the fairtrade info on their website
Nature's Larder - 60 Holburn Street
Grampian Health Foods - 5 Crown Street. Website
Restaurants and cafes
Aberdeen Beach Leisure Centre, Aberdeen Art Gallery (Schoolhill), Belmont Cinema (Belmont St), Books and Beans (Belmont St.), Central Library Cafe (Rosemount Viaduct), Hatstand Nellie (Holburn Street), Kilau Cafe (Little Belmont Street), La Bonne Baguette (Correction Wynd), Music Hall Cafe (Union St.), Nicholas Centre Terrace Cafe (Aberdeen Unitarians, Skene Terrace), OAK Cafe (Rosemount Viaduct), Pillar Project Cafe (Back Wynd), Rosie's Cafe (Rosemount Place), Rubislaw Church Centre (Fountainhall Rd), Satrosphere (Constitution St), Soul and Spice (Belmont St.), Zeste (Crombie Hall, High St, Old Aberdeen). (from the Fairtrade Guide to Aberdeen)
I'm not sure which of these places offer anything else other than fairtrade hot drinks so please let me know if you know.
BUYING VEGETARIAN/VEGAN/ORGANIC
If you're not shopping in supermarkets then it can be difficult to find a good range of these. I've listed the two independent health food stores in Aberdeen; I haven't given details of large chain health food stores as I'm sure they get enough promotion for their 'better than half price' sale elsewhere. I've also listed some restaurants that provide a good choice of at least one of the above (obviously there are vegetarian options almost everywhere so the list is restricted to a. the places i know about and b. the places that make a conscious effort to provide for one of these three and offer a wider selection than the norm).
Benefits:
- Fewer animals are exploited to make money for big business and supermarkets. For a link to.......
- Health benefits for you: as long as a diet providing a good balance of nutrients is followed then a vegetarian or vegan diet is likely to provide less saturated fat meaning a healthier heart and cholestral levels. Other health benefits include the large amount of vitamins and mineral in fruit and vegetables that help the body function.
- Buying organic means supporting a more sustainable production (check rough guide) and a minimum of negative effects to the environment. Check out the Soil Association website here.
Nature's Larder - 60 Holburn Street
Probably my favourite place to shop in Aberdeen: the fact that there is so many different things in such a small shop gives it great character and I always seem to find something new every time I go in. Offers a wide selection nuts, seeds, pulses, cereals, dried fruit, vegan alternatives and loads of other health food shop type things. Often an organic alternative is offered
Grampian Health Foods - 5 Crown Street. Website
Again a really wide selection of stuff similar to the above, also includes a wide selection of books (diets,recipes etc)
For fresh produce see the grocers in the "BUYING LOCAL" section above.
Restaurants and cafes
Please let me know of any places that offer a good range of vegetarian, vegan or organic meals or snacks
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