How deep do your values go?

I’ve realised that I must be a real pain to go out with sometimes. It’s because I have strong feelings about supporting local businesses, so my ethics pervade my purchasing decisions.

Ask me whether I prefer Costa or Starbucks and I’ll suggest a local independent café instead. If only the national chains are available, I’ll choose the one that pays a higher proportion of tax in the UK. The same goes for restaurants, although that also satisfies my foodie appetite as I usually find that independents offer much better food and service.

And I really try to avoid a certain pub chain that, in my opinion, treated their employees poorly when it came to furlough.

Even supermarkets get the same treatment as I know from farming clients which ones treat their suppliers better or worse. My preference is always my local butcher (a multi-generational business where the current sons are both triathletes, so they know how to eat!) and farm shops. I like seeing the names of the farms on my food and knowing that I have cycled past the animals, and they look well cared for. If you’re going to eat meat (and we try to have at least 1 veggie day per week) at least make sure that the animals have the best conditions as this is better for the animals AND for the environment.

How green is your bank? Here’s a useful website when choosing bank accounts:
https://bank.green/

How green is your pension?
https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/

How deep do your values go when nobody is looking?