Scavenging with Jay and Ryanne

Today on the program we’re scavenging in Amsterdam with Jay and Ryanne. Plus, a bonus appearance but the one and only Macdocman, as he discovers how the scavenger life works and marvels at the details.

Relevant Links for today’s scavenging adventure:

The Banana Podcast

photo by aphasiafilms /flickr

Unlike the simple and unmistakable yellow fruit on your kitchen table, the banana industry has a complex and troubled story. And as the global banana faces its greatest crisis ever, one might wonder- how did we get this banana, and how did the industry get to such a breaking point? Writer and journalist Dan Koeppel has been researching and tracking the world of bananas for several years and has information that most of the banana eating public has never heard. He joins me on today’s podcast as we discuss the history, the science, the politics and the future of the mighty banana.

Get the Banana Book

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Life, Death, and the Unglamorous Era of Ad-Men

Photo by FuckNewRave / flickr

John Hall remembers the advertizing business in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and there was nothing glamorous about it. His personal policy in the work place was not to pursue wealth and happiness, but to pursue work that brought meaning to life, which in turn has always given him a feeling of being content and the richest man around. As a business man, a hospice nurse, an english teacher for French people, and a business teacher – one thing shines through no matter what he is working on – John Hall is a force to be rekoned with in the best possible way.

John joins me on the phone from Paris in this very insightful and fun conversation about the lessons he’s learned from fantastic life experiences, and his struggle to convey that to future global business leaders.

Something more than selling fruit

The navigation system is scolding me with its female voice in Portuguese, I missed yet another turn as I cruise passed yet another apple orchard. It’s the end of September and I’m in what feels like the middle of nowhere Portugal, late for my appointment to visit the Frubaça Fruit Company. As a fruit producer and juice maker their products have caught my attention over the last few years when I am in Portugal. Besides their fruit, their fresh juices have this great combination of simple ingredients (just the fruit) and what seemed to be this ethical business philosophy that I wanted to examine first-hand.   So there I am, sort of lost but hoping that just beyond this next beautiful hill I will find what I’m looking for. Suddenly as I’m giving up hope, there it is, with stacks and stacks of fruit crates lining the outside, I’ve arrived at the Coppa (Cooperative that grows the fruit) facility.

CrateThings are extra busy inside Frubaça, it feels like the high season for apples as they roll passed me on the conveyer belt. At one stage they go under a large machine that shines a light on them, “Infrared Scanning,” Jorge Periquito, president of Frubaça, explains as we walk passed extremely long assembly lines. I can barely hear him over the sound of so many devices and machines as he explains the details of this state-of-the-art infrared scanner that detects any damage or defects to the apples.  We go on to see several other fruits being sorted and packaged for sending out to supermarkets and other places throughout the country. Some of the labels are even printed in Spanish and I learn later that beyond Spain the company sends their products to France as well.  Hard to believe this modest facility is serving up fruit even beyond the borders of Portugal, but the more I learned about Frubaça, the more I understood, this is no ordinary operation.

First there’s the technology: GPS, RFID, Infrared, High Pressure Processing  (HPP) Machines, are just some of the tools that play a critical role in how this natural fruit company functions.  In the case of the HPP machine, we’re talking about a device with few equals anywhere in the world, a piece of technology based on an old idea (pressure), that isn’t even known by most other companies out there.  It simulates the pressure equal to 60 kilometers under the sea, a pressure at which microrganisms are destroyed but the integrity of the juice remains in tact.

PlantJorge and I walk up the stairs to the giant metal tube where  small bottles of mango juice are being loaded in. This new room we’re in has a fantastic scent of fruit that hits you like the freshest mountain breeze imaginable.  As the process begins as we watch the digital display of the pressure meter rise. Nearby another version of the same machine is being loaded up with little packs of apple sauce.  Again, all around us, conveyer belts carry bottles of juice to their next destination.  Near the juicing machines I’m asked not to take any pictures as the machine manufacturers are very protective of their technology, I leave the camera off and focus my eyes on the apple foam flowing into a nearby drain. I’m temped to cup my two hands together and drink some delicious looking foam.

During my two hours at the plant Jorge explains the company, cooperative actually, from the beginning. He is one of 5 people that, since 1992, oversee the cooperative, all of which are from this rural community. They invested heavily in technology and go regularly to trade fairs and conferences all over the world, in an effort to know all the latest methods for handling the growing of fruit and production process. They’re not trying to be organic, their intention is to only use pesticides when it is absolutely necessary, a system of evaluation known as “integrated pest management.

At some point I asked Jorge about business, his approach to the global demand that says – a company must grow and make more profit year after year.  His response was that the company is not interested in growth for the sake of growth. They won’t try to fight price wars to sell the cheapest fruit, choosing instead to offer the best quality, in hopes that customers recognize the value. They won’t move or expand, this is their community and their intention is to keep it healthy and working. Then, a conversation topic I never expected to arise – arose: “The socioeconomic model of the urban setting is finished.” Technology from the city applied back in the countryside can help create a healthy and sustainable life in a way that is increasingly hard to achieve in the urban setting.

For a moment I though Jorge must have been listening to my latest podcasts or reading my tweets. But then I realized the connection- sustainable business. Quality food with real ingredients produced by a proud community that has been there for generations.  Using the latest in technology and applying it to old fashion ideas. It all connects back to the theme of doing things differently then the conventional way. Taking steps to build lives that are about something other than making money and consuming as much as possible.  Once again I had stumbled upon the kind of ideas and practices that have the power to change our world.

Portugal, Corporate Playground

Lisboa 2008One key point that I didn’t manage to get into for the piece I wrote about Portugal on the Guardian -Comment is Free– a few weeks ago:

Corporate Mayhem in Portugal

Although Portugal has never really seen an economic boom on the same scale of many of its European neighbors like Ireland and Spain, there was a period in the late 90’s when the economy was seen as doing quite well.  One of the big measures of this success, the number of multinational corporations that opened a production facility or large regional office in the country.  Employing lots of people and in theory, contributing tax income for the benefit of every citizen.

In 2001-2002, when I worked in Linda-a-Velha, just outside Lisbon, every morning my bus would pass all the big names that many nations would be excited to have within their borders: Nestlé, Ford, Volkswagon, Agfa, Kodak, Microsoft, Cisco and General Electric, just to name a few.  As time passed I met people who worked for these big names, noticed the long hours, hard work, and surprisingly – their uncertain futures at their current jobs.  In the years that have passed since this somewhat better economic time, it is big names like these that have repeatedly downsized, moved, and closed down their operations in Portugal.  They’ve done so with little notice and even less assistance for their laid off employees.  In their wake they left not only unemployment, they also left abandoned buildings, and communities in crisis.

So how does this make Portugal unique when so many people around the world experience such changes? A look at the statistics and the real stories of business being bought, sold, and moved somewhere even cheaper that low priced Portugal would reveal that in fact, Portugal’s strict rules and regulation of businesses does not apply to the multinationals.  Excessive roadblocks and red tape for small businesses and individuals looking to get started? – Plenty of that.  Basic commitments from large corporations such as contributions to the public well being? -Hardly any.

Now many who have been observing all this happening since the 90’s tend to blame the emergence of the European Union, with its pro-corporate policies and its excessive regulation that hits the smallest and poorest members the hardest.  Yet if you zoom out and look at the evolution of the so-called global economy, you can find other examples where some countries who want to attract foreign investment in the quest to become prosperous and modern also get used, abused, and left behind.  While the European Union has had a role to play, the symptoms that have made Portugal a very troubled economy, have alot to do with a world economy that says success means profits above all else, and short term gains trump long term sustainability.  While they harass and undermine small native initiatives, they sit back and give large multinational entities a free pass to do whatever they please.

Yesterday’s Butchers Today

Part of coming to Portugal and visiting my grandparents means taking them to a supermarket. With my help they can pick up all the supplies they need to last them a month or more, that way they don’t have to ask help from friends or neighbors.

Living in a tiny town in what I like to call the middle of nowhere, we tend to go to the nearby bigger town to frequent their supermarkets. In the last decade the amount of supermarkets has mushroomed from 1 to as many as 4 or 5.

As I push the cart down the aisles, and my grandparents struggle to take a good look at the type of meats behind the meat counter, I  take a few minutes to watch the people behind the counter.

Sharpening his blade, I watch a gentleman who must be in his late 60’s, joking with one of the other employees behind the meat counter. His white coat full of blood stains, I noticed the ease and skill with which he does his work. It became clear that this man had been a butcher for most of his adult life. Yet the supermarket has only been there for 6 or 7 years, so where was he a butcher before?

My mind continued to wander, 7 years ago… hell.. 14 years ago.. he was probably a butcher in a local butcher shop, now long since closed down. As I glanced at the back of the store, I watched the fish lady tending to customers ordering fish. Here again was someone who knew her job well, and before the days of the supermarket, had surely done her job in a local fish market, many of which have been scaled down or simply closed.

Both the fish lady and the meat man seemed to be doing ok on the job, here at the big supermarket. I could speculate that their wage is probably pretty small and the amount of rules and regulations they’re subject to, would have to be greater. But the question that kept coming back to be is this: Are they better off? Are we better off as a community and a society, with this brave new world where our local shops and specialties are replaced. From the wages to the working conditions to the human connection of feeling like your job is valued and valuing your work, is this new way sustainable?

As we collected our things and made our way out of the shop, I took one more look at the butcher. He was explaining to a younger kid how to properly chop some kind of meat. I wondered about what his job used to be like… the changes he’s seen.. the life he leads.