Shop for Justice
New Roots
Just another small, struggling shop between the University and the Hallamshire Hospital . Fruit and vegetables set out on the pavement, the smell of fresh bread and fruit as you go in. Lots of different and unusual pasties and homemade cakes in the counter, fridge full of dairy and soya products. Then a wall stretching down to the back, full of nuts, dried fruit, snacks, chocolate, wholefoods and all sorts, interspersed with lovely candies and Traidcraft teas, coffees and other foods. Oh yes, and a wall full of unusual cards and postcards. You look back and find you've passed a wall full of leaflets on local environmental, Third World and Justice issues. And then a large chart on the origins and ethics of companies producing various foods. There is a petition on the counter about Third World Debt. And just outside the door is displayed a large document called Trading Policy. And the shop window is filled not with apples but a display about Land mines. Curiosity definitely aroused, you go back in and get talking to the friendly person behind the counter. You find he's an unpaid volunteer, and that the shop is not there to make profit but has a whole variety of aims to do with justice, ecology, fair trade and ethics - a brave new world! 2. Shop, Flat, CentreIn 1997, New Roots is ten years old. It has touched and affected many people's lives, both volunteers and customers. It is a valued and trusted business in the area respected by many for its philosophy, its ethical principles and its integrity as well as all the good things it sells. The shop works at several levels. Often we have worked at agreed descriptions of what we do. The Ethos and Purpose document of 1988 puts our aims as i) Providing a good, attractive service, with an accepting, relaxed and normal atmosphere, where we can be a service to anyone who comes into the shop, including local people; Using produce directly as a way of acting out our aims
iii) Using the window and notice-boards for sharing ideas, facts and information in the areas outlined iv) Welcoming people to work with us who are in sympathy with our aims. v) Inviting people to look further and share in the Gospel reasons for what we do. Current Revised Aims and Objectives of 1995 are given later. It is a project of the Ashram Community Trust, a small nationwide radical Christian community. The volunteers can be Ashram Community Members or Christians from various churches, or people who share our ideals from a wide variety of world-views. In addition to the shop, there is a flat upstairs, where ten people have made a home over these years, all of them having some involvement in the activities of the shop. They have provided valued resources in many ways - human presence and work, security and finance Until recently a small Christian congregation met in the flat, writing their own forms of service, tackling some of the great issues of our time, providing support for each other and creating a Christian "heart" for the enterprise. It was called the Ashram Centre Congregation and met on Tuesdays from 6.30 to 9.30pm fortnightly. Usually a "Bring and Share" meal came first, often in the flat, followed at 7.45 by a liturgy, taken by different members in turn. At 8.15 a Discussion topic was opened by another members. The meeting would end around 9.15 with decisions about future activities. Downstairs is a room we call the Centre Room. Its initial purpose as a base for other activities remains to be fulfilled, but it is a good place for meetings and workshops. The New Roots shop operates within premises of Ashram Community. The Ashram Community Trust, a registered charity, allows the New Roots shop, consisting of ACT members and others, to carry on their business, as they see it as coherent with the charitable aims, and because it is not for individual profit or payment to volunteers or workers. The New Roots shop is not itself a charity, and its finances are separate from those of ACT. The premises at 347 Glossop Road were bought by the Trust for £36,000 in 1986, with interest-free loans from Community Members plus Trust money. The loans have now been repaid and the Glossop Road account has been able to help towards Ashram's further project, the purchase of the Ashram Community House at 75 Rock Street, which is now associated with the development of Ashram Community Volunteers. Any surplus money in the New Roots "trading" account goes back into improving the work itself. The shop pays a monthly contribution to the Ashram Centre Account, which along with the Flat rents, pays for services, business rates, and repair and maintenance of the building. The Ashram Centre Account is part of the charitable assets of Ashram Community Trust reported in the Annual Report of the Trust. 3. Volunteers and Shop MeetingMy daughter is endlessly amazed that we continue to get, over ten years, people prepared to work hard for long hours for nothing! And she is right. The commitment of so many people (four each day), week in, week out, is amazing. But a commitment to New Roots is also rewarding. I think people have a real sense of doing something worthwhile, of standing for something, of making a difference. Volunteers come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Chris Bullock and I have been there from the beginning, others for a number of years. We always have some students for whom New Roots is a welcome break from study, a contact with the real world, and a way to connect with some of the big issues. We have always had some unemployed folk for whom the shop gives worthwhile things to do. We usually have one or two people taking a year or two out" to get involved in such things. And we have had numbers of vulnerable men and women, for whom New Roots has been a support and a good place to be. I have always believed that what the shop offers volunteers, in a variety of ways, is a positive and important "ministry". And then we have learned teamwork together, trying to work collaboratively, sharing decision-making in our monthly Shop Meetings. We have some way to go still in this because as volunteers come and go, it's easy for too much to land on the few long-term folk. Recently it was decided to accept the reality that I have become fairly central to its operation and I became honorary "Co-ordinator". In 1992-93, we had a part-time paid worker, Davy Rhodes, but apart from this, no "workers" have received any payment. As a taster of the flavour of the Shop Meeting here are subjects from minutes of meetings in two years, 1988 and 1989.
From time to time, we have also held Saturday Workshops to brain-storm about our local mission, our policies and our future direction. 4.PhilosophyThere have been many attempts at writing definitions of what we are about. When the shop was opened in October 1987, it was as a result of a long search by Sheffield Ashram Community. We wanted to find a way to continue some of the concerns of Pitsmoor Ashram Community House (1971-81) and of the shop-based Radical Jesus Campaign (1985). But we also wanted to develop a different kind of project, in which we would try to express our mission in terms of work, or crafts or produce. When we eventually found a shop, it sold vegetables, so we continued from that base. The philosophy of that time was expressed in the Ethos and Purpose document of 1988. Those involved stated their purpose as: 1. We are a group of people committed to the life and teachings of Jesus and their implications today. 2. We are wanting to express in whatever ways are possible, the Gospel message of "Good News to the Poor". 3. We want to try to raise awareness among the wealthier people in society of the implications of this message. 4. We want to encourage others to join us, both those who are seeking a radical Christianity, and those in general sympathy with our aims. This basic approach was seen as having particular areas of concern: .The growing inequality between rich and poor in Britain. The rapid and fundamental change taking place in the conduct of British public life, as the style of our government becomes more centralised, authoritarian, undemocratic and oppressive. World poverty and economic exploitation. Peace issues. Exploitation of the planet. Health and food issues. Racism in Britain and the world. Sexism. The undervaluing of women. The undervaluing of old people. Work and unemployment. The search for new ways of working, paid and unpaid. Issues important to this neighbourhood and local people. More recently,in 1995, our Philosophy was expressed in the following way, which takes account of the involvement of those without a specifically Christian orientation: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES AIM: New Roots is different. It is a shop run by a group of people who are trying to promote a society where the earth, its resources and people are treated equitably, respectfully and responsibly. For many of us this is an expression of our Christianity. OBJECTIVES: We attempt to: a) Sell products that do not exploit people or the planet in their production. b) Encourage grass roots efforts, especially amongst the poor. c) Facilitate people in their efforts to develop a more wholesome lifestyle. d) Raise awareness of the surrounding issues, and witness to our beliefs. e) Use money generated by the shop to fund projects in sympathy with our aims. STRUCTURES: a)New Roots sells produce to meet the criteria of its objectives, as set out in the Trading Policy. b) We operate in a way in which all people involved in the shop have an equal say in the running and decision-making process. c) All workers are volunteers, with one voluntary co-ordinator. d) New Roots operates on a basis of monthly meetings, to which all workers are accountable. All major decisions are made at these meetings, with day-to-day decisions made by the co- ordinator or the appropriate worker. 5. Ethical Buying and SellingSelling products ethically can be done positively and negatively. Negatively, we exclude products from many companies which offend basic ethical convictions. We use the research in The Ethical Consumer magazine which indicates their performance under various heads: Oppressive Regimes Nuclear Power Wages & conditions Armaments Land Rights Animal Testing Environment Factory Farming Irresponsible Marketing Political Donations There are charts in the shop demonstrating our choices. Positively, we choose products from companies with the cleanest records, and organisations which are based on fair trade. Selling Fair Trade products, largely from Traidcraft, is an important element for us. This means buying products from the poor in Third World countries paying them the maximum possible for their goods. These approaches could be called "Boycott" and "Buycott"! In 1996 we worked out a total Trading Policy and adopted it as follows TRADING POLICY 1. To sell as many fairly traded goods as possible. 2. To avoid as far as possible buying from companies that: * pollute the environment * have poor, or no environmental policy * factory farm, * test on animals * are involved in armaments or nuclear power * work under oppressive regimes 3. To refuse to buy from Multinationals. 4. To support National and International boycotts of countries specific issues (eg France-Nuclear testing, South Africa-Apartheid 5. To sell only vegetarian produce and as much vegan and organ as possible. 6. To sell produce with minimal packaging, and avoid PVC. 7. To encourage recycling and re-using, of carrier bags, egg boxes etc 8. To buy from small local suppliers who have similar convictions and ethos. 9. To provide an outlet for local crafts 6. Campaigningby Chris BullockThe prime purpose of New Roots, as stated in our Aims and Objectives is to help promote a fairer, more caring and more sustainable world. On the ways in which we are trying to achieve this is to raise peoples' awareness of some of the crucial issues involved, eg the question of fair trade v. globalisation of markets, or the exploitation of people and the environment often caused by modern aggressive production and marketing methods. We have adopted a variety of means to get our message across and to highlight the various issues and concerns we choose to focus upon. WINDOWS This is the primary means we use to communicate our concerns to others, notably customers and passers-by. It is literally our window on the world. Windows have been organised by ourselves to promote both our products and our ethos, and also to reflect the concerns and interests of individual workers. Naturally over the ten years we have been able to tackle a huge variety of issues and concerns, ranging from the local through the national to the global. Our window displays are statements which "speak" to the public, they are challenging and thought-provoking, inviting the casual onlooker to pause and reflect. Occasionally, they are hard hitting and controversial, but above all their aim is to get people thinking about the issues that matter. Equally importantly, we actively encourage outside campaigning groups to use our window space to put over their particular point of view. It might be one of the aid agencies, like Oxfam or Christian Aid or Animal Rights, but we try to give space also to local pressure groups who would otherwise have little opportunity to publicise their case. One such was Pedal Pushers, who are campaigning to get a better deal for the growing number of cyclists in Sheffield. Another was a campaign initiated by local people in Broomhall to save a nearby small woodland from further "development". A comprehensive list of previous windows arranged in categories is given below. The windows often form a colourful and stimulating front which juxtaposes with the fruit and veg. displayed outside and this striking combination in itself must surely invite curiosity in the minds of onlookers, and entice them through the front door to explore the treasures beyond!. CAMPAIGNS Another way of getting our concerns aired is through campaigns we have initiated by ourselves or through petitions brought in by outside groups who share our aims and ethos. Over the years we have participated in effective and successful campaigns such as the Anti-apartheid Boycott when we refused to stock any South African produce, and thus expressed our solidarity with the liberation struggle of the people there, and the boycott of French goods because of that country's nuclear testing in the Pacific. Another important campaign was highlighting the problem of Third World debt and the plight of poorer nations caught up in the spiral of indebtedness. One positive outcome of our targeting the major banks was our decision to move our account from Lloyds to the Co-operative Bank. Ironically we were also involved in an anti-consumerism campaign designed to illustrate the absurdity of buying expensive and extravagant gifts, particularly at Christmas, and to encourage people to think about ways of changing their shopping habits and to get by with less and feel better for it! MESSAGES AROUND THE SHOP Arranged artistically (?) on various walls around the shop are thought-provoking and often pithy sayings about life and the universe, human behaviour and injustices and absurdities of the world, gleaned from the great and the good and sometimes the Guardian. The customer casually buying bananas or fr juice may perchance be confronted by stimulating quotes, thus enlightening their mind and enlivening their shopping in New Roots. SOME OF THE MANY WINDOW DISPLAYS Product Issues: Nescafe, Bananas, Chocolate, Food miles, Organic fruit veg. Light Topics: Happiness, What we think about Xmas. Countries: Somalian refugees, El Salvador, Cuba, Bangladeshi floods, Central America - disappearances. Indonesia - arms sales. Local Rich and poor in Sheffield, Save Lyn Wood, Urban Theology Unit, Pedal pushers. Lifestyle: Veganism, Packaging, Enough (at Xmas) Gender and sex, Free-wheelers, Women's issues. Christianity: Meaning of Easter, The Ashram Community, Meaning of Christmas, Christian Aid Week Martyrdom - Martin Luther King . Issues: Tourism, Land mines, Aids, Refugees, Third World debt and banks, Roads to ruin, Arms trade, Homelessness, Animal testing, The Asylum Bill, The Poll Tax, Roads protests, Charter 88, The lottery, Auschwitz, Micro-credit, Aid, Torture, Intermediate Technology, Death penalty in U. S. A., Tools for self-reliance. Us. Our purpose, What we sell and don't sell. 7. Good News from a ShopThe place we choose to stand, the area we choose to live in, is profoundly important. It speaks volumes. Members of Ashram Community have always sought for the right place in which to work, from which to speak, through which to serve. So, why choose a shop? A shop, because it is a public place, can embody and express, significantly, certain aspects of a radical faith. 1. Returning to the Street Churches meet behind closed doors, in buildings others don't enter, as if meeting secretly. A shop is a common thoroughfare, where people easily walk in, where they do their business. Christianity began in the public places of Galilee at the street level. We want to be where ordinary life is happening. We really are the proverbial 'corner shop,' where people stop to chat, where names are known, where people deliberately support us with their custom, and believe in the value of our being there. 2. Raising the Significance of Everyday Things We deal in tomatoes, lentils, bread; basic elements of common human survival. Things which are life-sustaining, pleasure-giving, symbols of richness and fruitfulness. 3. Acting Justly People trust us to be honest and fair, to tell the truth about our products, to make only modest profit. When buying fruit and vegetables in the wholesale market I am struck by the amazement of the traders if I tell them I had a box of courgettes the day before that they hadn't charged me for. One of them once said of me to another, "I believe everything she says." 4. Standing for Something We are seen as people with convictions and principles, clearly running a business for reasons other than profit, and trying to act on our beliefs. It soon became clear at the wholesale market that we were a bit 'different.' Before the end of Apartheid, when we boycotted all South African goods, trades people would prevent me from buying such. "Not for you, Grace. They're South African!" they would say. 5. Believing in the Power of Quite Simple Choices New Roots is based on the premise that consumers have the capacity to affect whole industries. The boycotting of Cape goods or Nestle's products undoubtedly had a powerful effect. So have 'buycotts'- the positive choice of fair-trade products instead of the products of multi-nationals. We have tried to make it easy for people to act on these ideas and change the lifestyles accordingly. 6. Declaring Our Interdependence as Human Beings We have need of people around the world for the richness of our daily lives And we hold the power to affect them by our simple acts of purchase. The tea we choose can put money into the pockets of rich companies or poor peasants. The washing powder we choose can damage the soil for those( who come after us. There is a new awareness, a slow change in the attitudes of millions of people that our action, our buying, is not neutral but has economic aria political consequences for others. New Roots seeks to foster and support this belief. 7. Deliberately Creating Oddity and Provocative Juxtaposition It is arresting to see a Bible and a cross in the window above the apples, nectarines, and leeks, or a model of the cardboard shelter of the homeless beside the lentils and beans. Such juxtapositions compel thought, and provide "bridges" or at least uncomfortable provocations between simple acts of buying and vast global issues. 8. Exposing the Hidden Connection Who would know that a harmless tin of baked beans comes to us from a company that pollutes the environment and is linked with the arms trade? We seek to ask questions that take these things seriously. - Where does this banana, or rice, come from? - Who does it sustain? - Who is exploited so that I can have it? - Is the company that brings it to me damaging the environment or people's lives? - Should 1, therefore, help to perpetuate this injustice? 9. Acknowledging the Complexities Many of the issues are much more complex than buying coffee from poor people rather than rich multinationals. We have studied some such issues through window displays. Should we buy produce carried from the other side of the world? Should we continue to buy flowers from Colombia, knowing how the workers suffer from pesticides? 10. Asserting That All Things Hold Together Our good news is somehow about human and ecological mutuality and tolerance, about how everything "holds together". Surely, in our modern exploitative world, it is becoming clear that the world will only survive by:
This model of sustaining and sustainable living is what the New Testament refers to as Christ who/which "holds all things together". We share this aim and vision at New Roots, though not all involved would use this language. We don't always enact this very well. But we keep trying. TYPICAL MESSAGES ROUND THE SHOP Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the earth; indeed it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Meade Wealth is always the result of theft, if not by the actual possessor, then by their predecessor. St Jerome (334-420 AD) To choose what is difficult all one's days as if it were easy, that is faith. W H Auden from For the Time Being Tread lightly on the far-flung skirts Of other people's lives; You cannot tell the inner hurts Each from the world derives. Phyllis Moulton, 10yrs. The world is not dangerous because of the people who do evil, but because of those who sit and let it happen. Albert Einstein Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail. |