Tesco & Zimbabwe

bina72

I do my weekly shop at Tesco & I've noticed that some of the veg is sourced from Zimbabwe. I have always made a point of not buying the product if so.
However, given the recent escalating events & potential for the people of Zimbabwe starving through lack of food (or being able to afford it) I'm seriously considering a boycott of Tesco altogether. I will be writing to them to voice my concerns. I find it disgusting that Tesco is buying food from the country when its people can't afford to feed themselves.
Forgive my ignorance but is there a website which gives info on who sources what from where? (I've done a quick search of this forum but I may well be using the 'wrong' terms to find what I 'm after). I desperately want to be a more informed & ethically aware shopper & also to let the big companies know why I won't shop with them.
Anyone got any helpful info?
Thanks!

mrs_pepperpot_3

wow, i had no idea. thats awful. i may have to switch to asda

WageSlave_3

Can I put a different spin on this? The food that does come from Zim is grown by the few remaining commercial farmers (white in the majority but that is a totally different conversation). These farmers provide employment to, in some cases, hundreds of people and their families live on the farmers land. The pay they receive supports and feeds these people and I know that a lot of the farmers help out in other ways to support their employees.

If the farmers are unable to sell their produce overseas, they will go out of business or, more likely, be driven off their land because they are no longer able to pay the foreign currency bribes necessary to keep Mugabe and his ilk from simply taking it away. Once that happens, I guarantee the farm employees and their families will also be driven off their land by the so called war veterans (many not even born when the war ended in 1980). They will become homeless and suffer the fate that the vast majority are currently enduring.

I will personally keeping buying Zim grown produce. Boycotting it will hurt the people suffering the most out there and have little, if no, effect of Mugabe and his elite.

I should add, I was born and raised in Zimbabwe and many of my class mates went on to be farmers. I can't express how angry I am about Mugabe's regime and the complete inaction by Blair, Bush and now Brown. Don't even get me started about the UN!

morg_monster

Hiya
Here's a short article on this very topic from the Guardian a couple of weeks ago. It throws up some interesting points and notes that Oxfam, for example, doesn't support the idea of a boycott. Also another poster said about going to Asda instead, well this article was about Zim products in the Co-op so there is no reason to think Tesco is the only one.
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/ethicalliving/story/0,,2280009,00.html

bina72

Thanks all for your responses. The article was really useful. As usual there are no easy answers.
It makes me feel completely useless, I thought I could have helped in small way. I will have a rethink on how I can do my bit. Ideas welcome!

geordie_joe

bina72 wrote: »

Thanks all for your responses. The article was really useful. As usual there are no easy answers.
It makes me feel completely useless, I thought I could have helped in small way. I will have a rethink on how I can do my bit. Ideas welcome!

Don't feel useless, you did help in a small way. You highlighted a problem, but more importantly you highlighted the fact that there is never an easy answer and that people should stop and study all the facts before jumping onto band wagons.

We all know you had the best of intentions, and now we know more of the facts we can all make a more informed decision on how best to help these people.

bina72

What a lovely response! Thank you for spending the time to write it.
I'm feeling frustrated at the injustice in the world & at the same time thankful that I'm one of the lucky ones who is free to do pretty much as I please. Sometimes I feel I don't do enough to help others.

facingthefuture

WageSlave wrote: »

Can I put a different spin on this? The food that does come from Zim is grown by the few remaining commercial farmers (white in the majority but that is a totally different conversation). These farmers provide employment to, in some cases, hundreds of people and their families live on the farmers land. The pay they receive supports and feeds these people and I know that a lot of the farmers help out in other ways to support their employees.

If the farmers are unable to sell their produce overseas, they will go out of business or, more likely, be driven off their land because they are no longer able to pay the foreign currency bribes necessary to keep Mugabe and his ilk from simply taking it away. Once that happens, I guarantee the farm employees and their families will also be driven off their land by the so called war veterans (many not even born when the war ended in 1980). They will become homeless and suffer the fate that the vast majority are currently enduring.

I will personally keeping buying Zim grown produce. Boycotting it will hurt the people suffering the most out there and have little, if no, effect of Mugabe and his elite.

I should add, I was born and raised in Zimbabwe and many of my class mates went on to be farmers. I can't express how angry I am about Mugabe's regime and the complete inaction by Blair, Bush and now Brown. Don't even get me started about the UN!

Thanks for posting this, though the original op certainly has her heart in the right place, it does help to be aware of the real situation. I hope any friends and family you may have there stay safe. Mugabe is an evil person, how he can commit this genocide is unthinkable. I have seen reports of the poor workers starving with children, houses torched and also the ghastly brutal attacks by his supporters on the white farmers. I just can't see where it will all end.

WageSlave_3

Thanks Future. Friends and family all (currently, anyway) safe. I hear a lot from inside the country and it is beyond words. It's very frustrating being do far from home and not being able to do much. We were unable to even attend the funeral of my late Gran when she passed away early this year becuase of the dangers involved in travelling out there. You also, quite rightly, pointed out that I was remiss in not recognising the OP's original good intention in posting!

Bina - good intentions originally recognised and now acknowledged! I also fully understand the frustration you expressed a little later. If Zim had oil I'm sure Bush and co would have stormed in there years ago and got a real weapon of mass destruction (Mugabe's regime) removed and they'd have been in the Hague for crimes against humanity in no time at all. I've no doubt today's news (aid agencies banned and the MDC banned from campaigning for the election on 27 June) will result in precisely no action being taken!

Cardew

WageSlave wrote: »

If Zim had oil I'm sure Bush and co would have stormed in there years ago and got a real weapon of mass destruction (Mugabe's regime) removed and they'd have been in the Hague for crimes against humanity in no time at all. I've no doubt today's news (aid agencies banned and the MDC banned from campaigning for the election on 27 June) will result in precisely no action being taken!

So precisely what action do you suggest is taken?

This part of your post illustrates perfectly the dilemma faced by the USA and the rest of the western world?

You, with some justification, imply that Iraq was purely a case of regime change and from the tone of your post appear critical.

When the African nations themselves refuse to even codemn Mugabe, let alone take action, what chance do you feel there is of them condoning the 'West' deposing him and his henchmen?

Once the principle of regime change was established, there are plenty more deserving candidates in Africa!!!

It is a 'no win' situation for everyone, especially the poor of Zimbabwe!

Jennifer_Jane

Thanks, WageSlave. I was going to post much the same, but you have the added credibility of being from Zim. It's such a tragic situation. I remember working in retail in South Africa and we bought so much beautiful food from Zimbabwe, in the days when it was the food basket of Africa. It's just amazing how well and healthy Robert Mugabe looks; at 84 he's still going strong and looks as if he'll go on for years to come.

Africa does bring a lot of problems on itself. It's very hard to watch when you've lived there for several decades and have a great affection for the place.