6 Low-Waste (& Nutrient Dense!) Valentine’s Gift Ideas

by lady-farmer | Feb 14, 2019 | Reflections

How do Americans say “I love you” on Valentine’s Day? According to statistics, we do it by spending money – and a lot of it!

Here are a few Valentine’s Day spending figures to make your heart pound, gleaned from the National Retail Federation’s Valentine’s Day Consumer Spending Survey:

Gift cards – $1.5 billion
Candy – $1.7 billion
Clothing – $2 billion
Flowers – $2.1 billion
Night Out – $3.6 billion
Jewelry – $4.8 billion
Total – $18.9 billion

In terms of sustainability that’s quite a cringe-worthy list, considering all of the paper, cellophane, plastic, empty sugar-laden calories and world-wide slavery all of that represents, most of which is destined to be tossed and forgotten by the next day. I’m going to make an understatement here and say that perhaps we don’t need such excess to communicate our love to one another. Not to be the Valentine Grinch, but if everyone was more aware of this, don’t you think that most people would do it at least a little bit differently?

What about Valentine’s Day in our economy? It’s one of the holidays that retailers count on to help their bottom line. Does that mean that as consumers we have some sort of responsibility (or excuse) to perpetuate such over-the-top waste?

I think not. Given a little bit of thought and creativity, there are certainly ways to avoid participating in thoughtless buying rituals while still observing the delights of Valentine’s Day traditions. When we ourselves step away from the frenzy we become examples for how it can be done. What follows are some easy ideas for making your Valentine’s Day more about love and less about senseless waste.

6 Low-Waste, Sustainable Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

1. Instead of a store-bought card, write a heartfelt personal note. (True story–in our family we keep old cards going back many years in a box. On birthdays and holidays, we dig around to find one that fits and give it again! Corny, but fun.)
2. Call a friend or loved one and set up a time to get together. Your time is a gift.
3. Give a plant or flower bulbs (tulips, daffodils or dahlias)  instead of cut flowers.
4. Find your jewelry or clothing gifts at a local thrift store. They have a story!
5. Give slavery-free chocolate–or a home-baked treat.
6. Speaking of home-baked, we have an amazing HEALTHY (really, it is), gluten-free, chocolate cake recipe that’s not only a delightful treat but is filled with super nutrients–our Valentine gift to you!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe

Chewy Chocolate Ganache Superfood Brownie Cake (Gluten Free and Nutrient Rich!)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup real butter from grass-fed cows (Kerrygold is a good brand and widely available)
• 1 cup of organic coconut oil
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (a good fair trade brand here)
• 1/2 cup 100% pure maple syrup
• 1 cup almond flour
• ½ cup raw sugar or coconut sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 eggs ( from your local farmer if possible or buy “pastured” eggs in the store)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 1.5 QT oven-proof bowl (or you can just use a brownie pan if you don’t want it to be a cake).

STEP 2

Prepare the ganache–Place the butter and coconut oil together in a saucepan and stir until melted. Add ¼ cup of the cocoa powder and maple syrup and stir until all the ingredients are well combined. Let cool

STEP 3

In a bowl, whisk together the almond flour, remaining cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

STEP 4

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla.

STEP 5

Combine ⅔ cup of the cooled chocolate and butter mixture with the egg and sugar mixture, setting aside ⅓ cup for later use. Mix into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Bake in the greased 8×8 pan for 30 minutes or until done.

STEP 6

Take out of the oven and after it has cooled briefly, remove the cake from the bowl by turning it upside down onto a plate. While still warm, poke several holes through the top with a something long. (I use a shish kabob skewer). Spoon the remaining ganache over the top one large spoonful at a time so it can seep down through the cake and drip over the sides slowly. Then let it cool completely.

STEP 7

Slice, serve and share the chocolate LOVE!

Pin it for later!

The Medicine of Making

by lady-farmer | Aug 31, 2018 | Reflections

We’ve been sold the goods–literally.  Somewhere along the line, we were convinced that it was better to buy everything we needed rather than to make, that our lives would be better when our food, our clothing, our living spaces and everything in them was produced somewhere out of sight and out of mind. This message, delivered through the word “convenience”  was that our time was better spent pursuing other things. And we bought that whole idea–along with all of the other millions upon millions of products that have filled not only shopping malls, outlet centers and megastores–but our houses, lives and landscapes.

It’s ironic that the human quality of ingenuity that made our self sufficiency possible in the first place is the very thing that’s taken our culture to such extremes. We are creative beings, and have reached our position as the dominant species by our perpetual spirit of invention. Every perceived obstacle on our human path is met with a solution, a product, a system that eventually becomes an industry. We have an incessant forward-moving instinct. But we are at the far end of the pendulum’s swing. Our consumerism is a cultural tsunami, full of brokenness at every level from our earth home to the very deepest part of our human hearts and everything in between. We are soul-sick with longing for balance.

It will be the same quality of problem solving that will eventually see us through this, that will bring us back, certainly not to the self reliance of our predecessors–there are too many of us and we’ve come way too far for that– but at least to a place of more equilibrium and more of a circular economy. Yet right here and now it’s time for the medicine of “making” to be fully embraced as a step towards healing. We’ve all made something at one time or another, some food or clothing or craft, and have felt that surge of satisfaction that comes from creating.There’s no denying that this pure and simple act is part of our humanness, essential to our individual well being and to our society as a whole.

We recently attended a retreat in Maine hosted by A Gathering of Stitches, during which both of us, guided by skilled instructors and surrounded by a community of fun loving, creative and supportive new friends, learned not only how to make a garment from scratch, but how “making” is so much more than a pastime. It’s not only part of our own healing, but is a radical political statement and an act of transformation. In refusing to feed the beast of fast fashion, we do our small but powerful part in cutting off its lifeline.  Without a continual, massive infusion of consumer participation, it cannot live, and neither can the broken food industry or the pharmaceutical companies that have compromised our nation’s health, or the scourge of single-use plastics or the toxic residuals of waste dumps filled with the refuse of our collective illness.

Paradigm shifts don’t happen overnight, however, and we don’t do ourselves any favors by becoming loud zealots who have no patience for the power of increment. History has shown us over and over that it’s the ripples of the small acts that create the waves of change.

So how can you be a “maker,” even in the smallest of ways? You certainly don’t have to be an artist or a gourmet cook. You can make your own coffee or tea instead of going to Starbucks, find a new use for something you might have thrown away, make a meal instead of going out, recycle a piece of paper to write a letter, make a cute patch for that hole in your pants. The possibilities are endless–and the effect is profound.

So what’s your medicine today?

The Ultimate #BTS: Our pricing, and why transparency is important

by lady-farmer | Jun 26, 2018 | Reflections

When my mom and I first came up with the idea to design & create clothing that we loved and were proud of producing, neither of us had any experience in the garment industry outside of being the committed bargain-hunters that we were. It wasn’t until a few months later, in the middle of one of the largest trade shows in the industry’s (MAGIC) showroom floor, when it hit us that my great-grandfather (my mother’s grandfather) had helped see a west Tennessee cotton mill through the Great Depression, and that we had unintentionally stumbled into a family legacy. For many reasons, but particularly this one, we were feeling highly motivated and affirmed despite our lack of industry experience. Though we saw clearly what we were up against, we chose to proceed with only the highest standards and expectations.

We want to explain a bit about the implications of sticking to those standards. To start, for anyone who isn’t aware of the human exploitation and environmental destruction in the current fashion industry, we recommend that you begin by watching The True Cost documentary (available on Netflix) – an inspiring and engaging depiction of not only the problem at hand but how we can begin to tackle it. There is also information on our website to help you understand different aspects of the issues. Click on Our Poison Closets, Fashion Revolution Week 2018 or Slow Fashion At-a-Glance for some additional insights.

We want our clothing to reflect the nature of their source, the fibers themselves. As Lady Farmers, we realize that in highlighting clothing as an agricultural product, it helps frame a lot of the issues within the industry. If we are learning as a culture to be more conscious of our food sourcing, it becomes easier to cultivate the same discernment for what we put on our bodies as what we put in them. Our clothing, like our food, is one of our most basic needs, which  ultimately starts as a seed in the ground.

So back to our trade show, where we enter bright-eyed and ready to change the world, asking where we might find the “Made in America” section, particularly domestically made and organically grown linens…only to be met with blank stares. Turns out that domestically grown woven fabrics (linen, etc.) are rare or non-existent, and any other organic domestic apparel fabrics are few and far between. In this moment we became starkly aware of two things: 1) the problems with sourcing were much bigger and even more complex than we could have known when we started and 2) we were going to be met with many obstacles, but our commitment was to doing the very best we could under the circumstances. We knew that in telling our story transparently, we would have an opportunity to educate where the gaps were while creating an alternative.

Despite our lack of choice when it comes to sourcing organic (sometimes the only option is “Made in China”) there are some areas where there is simply no compromise.  All parts of each piece we design and produce must be made of natural materials. We do not use any polyester, even the recycled kind (a discussion for another day). We do not use zippers, plastic buttons, elastic, or any type of notion that might compromise the circular life cycle of the garment we hope to produce. The well-being of the human who forged the buckles, wove the fibers, spun the thread, then ultimately sewed the garment together are of the utmost concern to us, and where we have direct say over those workers’ wages (our USA-based sewists), we offer fair market value in exchange for labor.

During our very first call with a New England based manufacturer, we were asked about our design ideas as well as our ideal price point. At that point, we really didn’t have a frame of reference for the true cost of producing these items. We threw out a number that we thought was “a good price” and quickly realized what we were up against, wanting to create something so clean and good for so little money. Knowing what we know now we’re reminded of all of the gaps – the information gaps, the sourcing gaps, the opportunity gaps, the challenge of no elastic, the predicament of designing a pair of overalls with no buttons or pants with no zippers–but eventually we did it (for what we understand now to be a completely fair and “good” price), and we feel more affirmed than ever in our goals and designs.

Yes, the price on our garments might be more that what the average consumer is accustomed to paying in this world of cheap, disposable fashion, but here’s something to consider: What if “a good price” meant that the cost of the item actually reflected its true value all the way down the line, from the manufacturer to the supply chain to the producer of the raw materials? What if “a good price” meant a decent wage for every human being involved in the production and the enforcement of responsible environmental and health standards? What if we all thought of these things when looking at a price tag with the goal not being to spend as little as possible, but to exchange our own resources for something with meaning and integrity?  

The higher cost for a better alternative is an ongoing discussion in our community, yet we are encouraged that there are other ways to refuse participation in fast fashion. Thrift and consignment stores, clothing swaps, wardrobe repair and “upcycling” are all ways of rejecting the prevailing system with minimal cost. Increasing awareness of personal lifestyle and consumer habits are powerful tools in shifting personal patterns. Individuals can quickly learn that a sense of well- being is not necessarily compromised by consuming less, but can in fact be enhanced by such reevaluation. We support and encourage all of these efforts.

In the spirit of full transparency, we are excited to offer you a pricing breakdown of one of our own garments – the beloved Brigit Overalls. We think it’s important that consumers are fully aware of what things cost, and that they know where their money is going when they make purchases! Because exact numbers are constantly changing due to fluctuating material costs, etc, we’ve chosen to break down our pricing via pie chart, the sections are as follows:

Materials: The materials we’ve committed to using (natural, non-toxic, responsibly grown) are in lower demand and are therefore more expensive to produce, leading to longer lead times. The more consumer demand there is for these types of materials, the easier it will be to get them and economy of scale will encourage the prices to come down a bit.

Labor: Local labor at fair market price is much higher here than overseas, where most of the clothing we wear has been sewn. In many cases, the garment workers making our $10 jeans and $5 tank tops have been paid well below poverty level, if at all. 

Operating/Administrative Costs: Website infrastructure, shipping and shipping materials, non-production related labor and wages, taxes, etc.

Net Profit: What will go back into the company for new designs and production, sourcing, planning events (conferences and workshops), creating content around education and awareness which serves to increase demand and  lower costs, networking, investing in future regenerative fiber material, training future Lady Fiber Farmers, etc.

1% for the Planet: As members of this organization, we give 1% of sales to our non-profit partner, Fibershed, to aid in the advancement in their work of developing regional fibersheds domestically.

We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve made. We believe that each garment, born of a passion to heal what is broken, has the potential to tell a story that will shift a paradigm.  We’re excited to share more about what makes them so special, and why we believe we are left with no other option than to vote with our dollars and to spread the message that as consumers, we have the power to truly change the world.

Thanks for following along,

Emma (& Mary)