Points of Analysis - The products we consume make us global citizens

The products we consume make us global citizens and link us to other people around the world as items are moved from extraction in one country, to the manufacturing of the object, until we finally take that item home.

• Robyn: TOMS shoes can be viewed as a global product because of the inspiration behind the shoes and because of where they are manufactured. TOMS shoes were inspired by the traditional Argentine shoe “the alpargata” (Jacob). Therefore, in choosing to purchase TOMS, I am linking myself to the Argentinean culture and the tradition that these shoes come from. TOMS are produced in Ethiopia, Argentina, and China (TOMS Manufacturing Practices). These shoes connect me to the people who create them in those countries, and because TOMS donates shoes for every pair that I purchase, I am also linked to children in other parts of the world.
• Kiera: A key point in my research of a specific tea, Premium Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea, was discovering the tea was packaged in Sri Lanka as loose tea leaves, specifically for Lee Valley Tools Ltd.  The tea tins are packed, batched, and dated on the bottom directly for export.  It is not a raw material shipped out to be packaged and assembled elsewhere.  As the end user of the product I am linked not only to tea growers in Sri Lanka, but to the processing and packaging plant workers as well, who are responsible for the finished product.

ü  “Although tea was first used as a beverage in China nearly 5,000 years ago, the Ceylonese plantations (started in the mid-1800s) quickly became famous for the quality of their Orange Pekoe tea.  Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) has ideal conditions for growing a range of teas, ample rain and good land ranging from sea level (for strong taste) to 6,000 feet, suited to the mild Orange Pekoe greens.  Our tea, grown at about 5,000 feet, has a classic mellow Orange Pekoe taste without the bitterness of low-grown teas.”

–        Lee Valley Tools Ltd. (2002)

ü  “Tea leaves are hand picked from the bushes once each month, only two leaves and a bud from each twig.  The fresh leaves are spread on racks to wilt (losing moisture) for 18 to 24 hours before being rolled into twists to break down the cells.  These twists are spread on tables to ferment for up to 3 hours before the fermentation process is stopped and the flavours locked in by warm air drying.  The twists are broken and the resulting leaf particles are then graded and packed.”

–        Lee Valley Tools Ltd. (2002)

• Nick: In terms of image and function, Apple’s iPad is a global product by definition: just look at its webpage (or its large amount of language settings)! From business, education to more private social relationships, the product is marketed as something that will help bring the world together. The impression is given that owning an iPad basically gives one the tools to talk with anyone, anywhere- that it’s a marriage between phone and computer, a new framework upon which global networks can conjoin. More physically, the iPad represents of the combined efforts of more than a hundred global suppliers. Raw materials like silicon and bauxite are extracted and refined around the world and employ tens of thousands in dozens of countries. The application of those base materials into usable components employs countless more and further widens the global footprint, which is an effect repeated once the assembled product finally ships to end-consumer suppliers. The functions of the iPad are marketed as empowering in how it enables one to talk with extra-nationals, and its form endows one with the ability to hold the combined efforts of a global workforce in the palms of their hands. Your hand touches the same Aluminum that Jamaican, Indian and Australian workers hands touched, you look at the same screen that Chinese and Indian labourers looked at, and you carry with you the same product that Asian shipments carried across international waters- how is that not a global product?
• Shauna: Cotton is one of the world’s oldest known fibres dating back to at least seven thousand years ago. To this day, Cotton is grown in over one hundred countries world wide in the latitudes between 45° North and 35° South and an estimated three hundred and fifty million people are engaged in cotton production either on-farm or in the transportation, storage, bailing, or ginning (Facts and Figures). Just about every person in this world is connected to the use of cotton in one form or another, whether it be the growing, processing, manufacturing, wearing, or using cotton products. When I walk into my closet, over fifty percent of my clothes are made out of cotton. I have towels, cloths, make-up pads, and furniture all containing various amounts of cotton, and each product has been made in a country outside of Canada. Cotton primarily connects us to the rest of the world through our clothing. By buying certain cotton clothes, I am linking myself not only to the processes taken in various parts of the world in order to produce the item, I am linking myself to the world of fashion. Many of us constantly purchase new clothes either to replenish a necessity of our culture (as well as most communities around the world), or to keep up with the latest trends and styles coming from Paris or London. Cotton has been, and continues to be, one of the worlds leading substance in clothing.