Want to avoid products made by companies that are pro-GM, or use factory farming? Well a new app lets you cut through the murky world of multinational corporate ownership and shop ethically.
How it works
You download the app, create an account, join campaigns, and then start scanning products. The app then looks up the 'family tree' of that product to reveal its parent company. I joined the campaign 'Demand GMO labelling', and then scanned a box of Kellogg's Fruit & Fibre on Charlotte's desk. 'You're avoiding this company,' came the response. Apparently they 'donated $790,000 to 'No' on Prop 37'. Yes - I had to look it up too.
Turns out Proposal 37 would have meant the compulsory labelling of GM ingredients in foods. It was narrowly defeated. Opponents included Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Inc. and Coca-Cola, all of whom donated far more money than the firms and organisations in favour of the legislation. To be clear, this proposal wasn't about banning GM; it was about clear labelling, because surely as consumers we have a right to know what we're buying? I put down Charlotte's cereal and looked at it in a new way. That's just one example. Other campaigns include 'Say no to Monsanto' and 'No More Corporate Oligarchy over Our Food!'
'Buycott' v 'Boycott'
Of course it's not just about avoiding (boycotting) companies - you can also support companies you think do the right thing (buycott). This has led to some campaigns that are for and against the same thing... so there's Buy Israeli products and Boycott Israeli Apartheid. Outside of food there are campaigns for issues around child labour, social responsibility, animal rights, and a host of other issues.
The man behind the app
Ivan Pardo, 26, from Los Angeles, is the genius behind the app. Crucially, by letting others create campaigns about issues they care about, he's avoided being a single issue app. Of course like all new apps and services, it's had a few teething troubles, such as crashing servers due to its popularity.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Pardo said: "I don’t want to push any single point of view with the app. For me, it was critical to allow users to create campaigns because I don’t think it's Buycott’s role to tell people what to buy. We simply want to provide a platform that empowers consumers to make well-informed purchasing decisions." In a web chat with the Huffington Post on the launch of Buycott, Dr Ellis Jones, who is the author of Better World Shopper, and has a similar app out, said: "We only get to vote every four years... but we 'vote' for these companies every day. Every dollar is a vote".
Buycott's in its infancy and there's lots to sort out - it might yet fall apart. At the moment it's very US centric, but then so was Facebook when that launched and look where we are now. But as campaigns grow and come together, it's going to be easier to avoid companies who do things you don't approve of, and support the ones you do. One thing's for sure though: it's going to vastly increase how long it takes to get the shopping in.
Buycott is available for iPhone and Android devices
For a longer history of how the idea got started, read this Forbes article.