By Elke Muranyi, Director of Corporate Responsibility at ALDI
The Christmas season is, for many of us, a period of sharing, generosity and attention to others, in which acts of solidarity multiply, support for institutions, participation in campaigns to collect goods and donations to those in need. But the spirit of Christmas solidarity can go even further. It can be in more thoughtful consumption.
The truth is that we consume energy, water and fuels on a daily basis, we buy clothes, decoration items, electronics, among many other goods. However, I would like to focus on a particularly relevant point: food goods, because conscious choices can and should be made in the meals we prepare for family and friends, both during the festive season and in everyday life.
Our food choices and the way we consume food affect the use and preservation of natural resources, biodiversity, production conditions and, ultimately, the future we are building for future generations.
It is natural that many consumers ask themselves: will my individual decision make a difference? Our first impulse is to answer negatively and belittle it. However, it is in this individual response that the power to promote change lies. We all have a role in building a more sustainable future. Retail, through its offerings, should promote more responsible choices. The consumer, in turn, has the power to consciously choose the most sustainable alternatives.
It is in this context that the food retail sector assumes a particularly relevant role. Currently, consumers in Portugal can find at points of sale an increasingly wide range of certified products — for example, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade, GlobalG.A.P., MSC or ASC — that meet internationally recognized standards and criteria.
When we choose a certified product, we are looking not only at the product itself, but also at the people who were part of its production. We are recognizing the importance of decent working conditions, of fairer remuneration for producers, but also of environmental protection. We are, in short, contributing to making environmental and social sustainability part of our daily choices.
However, thinking this way is relatively simple. The real challenge arises before the choice. For a decision to be conscious, information, awareness and learning are necessary. Changing habits does not happen by chance. Whether in choosing a particular food product or in a simple act such as reducing waste at home, there is always a learning process. And this responsibility is shared by several stakeholders: schools, families, media, civil society and, naturally, the companies that place products at the disposal of consumers.
Because of its proximity to consumers, retail has the ability to inform, raise awareness and make tangible concepts that would otherwise remain abstract. It has the capacity to show that small daily decisions and more conscious consumption can generate concrete results for people, communities and for the planet.
