The Countryman: It isn’t easy being (dollar) green

Ivan Allen Jr., mayor of Atlanta half a century back, was reported to have said the important color in his city was green rather than black or white.

The statement was remarkable for its time, amid the civil rights movement. Allen’s city became a model of relative racial harmony, for a while, and the economy was the driving force of social progress. Atlanta’s case is the first I can recall of applying the green of dollars to social causes.

Many folks these days put their money where their beliefs are. As did many of my customers when I was in business.

A few potential customers declined to buy from us because we weren’t organic. That was a dozen or so in 30 years in business. Others, already customers, used dollar green to punish our civic involvement. Twice, when I publicly opposed Mount Blue school budgets, my sales to school people (faculty, superintendent, directors) plummeted. First in 1994, again in 2014.

Some potential customers had specific questions, A guy from Harpswell asked about growing practices. When my spiel got to our using feed without genetic modification, he said, “That’s the one I wanted to hear.” He signed up on the spot for a $300 CSA share.

We tried to practice what we preached about animal welfare and sustainable farming, growing birds outdoors with plenty of space, feed, water and shelter and using items from renewable sources whenever possible. Some customers said they supported our practices with dollar green. Others, a majority, never said a word. But they kept coming back.

And, I have backed my beliefs with dollar green, too. It’s not always easy, and it can be hard to justify, especially when doing what you believe is right costs more.

My starting point is country of manufacture. I prefer USA, but I have nothing against goods made overseas. Unless they are made in China. Then, I look for a different country or different item. I buy Chinese-made only as a last, unavoidable resort.

Chinese soldiers massacred democracy supporters on June 4, 1989, in Tien an men Square. I was already nervous about buying Chinese, because I was learning that China’s factories were often little better than slave shops. And, China is communist, dedicated to destroying the country where our sons will live for another 40 or 50 years.

Tien an men sealed the deal for me.

I willingly buy a shirt from Bangladesh, pants from Haiti. But China? No, thanks.

In practice, here is how it shakes out. I can get street shoes anywhere for 100 bucks or so. Maybe less, if they are made in China. For decades, I bought SAS shoes at Hayden Brothers in Wilton. They are great shoes, made in Texas, about $130. When Hayden closed, I turned to Pine Tree Orthopedics in Livermore Falls. I paid about $250 for shoes made in the US, and they are the best I have ever worn.

A side benefit is that I don’t have to buy a new pair every year or so. The current pair is nearly two years old and is just past its half life. And I saved the cost, not to mention the time, of two or three trips to a shoe store to replace lower quality shoes.

Sometimes, you just have to bite a bullet. I used to buy a calculator every few months. They are easy to use, easy to break. Haven’t seen one made in the US in two decades or more. For years, I could buy calculators from Malaysia at an office supply or Staples. No longer. So, I just try to take better care of my Chinese-made calculators, which is difficult because the quality of Chinese goods — “more cheap s**t from China,” as they say — is often poor, so they need extra TLC.

I watch how businesses go about their business. Take McDonald’s. For starters, I don’t like McD’s business model. It has almost extinguished the local family restaurant, just as Walmart has dispatched hundreds of local hardware, clothing and food stores.

But McDonald’s has at least two feathers in its cap. It refused to buy genetically modified potatoes, stopping the gmo potato in its tracks. When the largest potato buyer in the world says “no gmo,” potato growers have to turn over a new leaf.

And McD’s hired Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University to make slaughter houses more humane. Grandin, who is a functioning autistic, designed a building in which the cattle never know their fate until it has been executed. So, full marks to Mickey D’s on genetic modification and animal welfare. And full steam ahead. McD’s is soon to ban antibiotics from its chickens. McDonald’s is the world’s largest buyer of chickens, so you know how this will turn out.

Walt Disney grew up in Marceline, Mo. I grew up 70 miles south. Disney was a home-boy star. But my mother had another take. Disney rewrote children’s stories. In Peter and the Wolf, Disney saved the duck, whom he named Sasha, from the wolf. In Sergei Prokofiev’s original, the wolf had a duck dinner, and the duck had no cute name.

Disney turned the stories into pabulum, my mother said. So, I look askance at Disney. Had to look again when we saw The Queen of Katwe on Monday at Narrow Gauge Cinemas. It’s about a Ugandan girl with a gene for chess. She won the all-Africa championship and is now in university. (By the way, Africa appears to be chess crazy.)

We saw the movie The Finest Hours last fall. Disney, too. About a sea crew that defied all odds and a nearly perfect storm to rescue stranded mariners off the Gulf of Maine.

Both movies had happy endings, but, unlike Peter and the Wolf, Disney didn’t alter an original to make it more palatable to an audience that wants a feel-good ending. Guess I’ll put Disney in my McDonald’s file. Negative model, but worth a second look.

Any number of people have told me they hate the business model or the shopping experience at big-box stores, especially Walmart, but they shop there to save money. Its model is to put small businesses out of business — Sam Walton’s biographer reported that he insisted on 65 percent of the sales in any market, while other chain stores looked for 10 percent — so, I have never shopped at a Walmart.

(I would have ended my no-buy practice at a Walmart in West Virginia when my car battery ran down. But Walmart’s people wouldn’t take my money for a boost. I haven’t forgotten their kindness, but it hasn’t overcome my Walmart aversion. Maybe someday.)

In the meantime, I’ll try to continue to use my precious few green dollars where they will accomplish something more than just getting things I need.

Bob Neal’s color is green. Not because it represents money. His mother gave each of her five kids a color by which to identify her pencils, lunch box, etc. She chose green for him. Eyes, too.