Shopping with a Conscience: The Informed Shopper's Guide to Retailers, Suppliers, and Service Providers in Canada

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

This volume is designed to empower five groups of Canadians: ethical
consumers, procurement professionals, executives, officers in government
and not-for-profit organizations, and teachers and students of consumer
studies. It reviews 114 Canadian retailers, service providers, and
suppliers, looking at 10 ethical issues, including gender and labor
relations, environment, trading practices, and management. The authors
are open about the fact that their organization, EthicScan Canada, does
contract consultancy for some of the organizations being reviewed, and
they describe in some detail their methods for collecting the
information presented in the book and the safeguards used to ensure
objective reporting. Because not all companies chose to respond to all
questions, comparisons are difficult in some categories. For example, in
the “Fast Food” category, A&W, Burger King, McDonald’s, and
Wendy’s all indicated that they do not buy rainforest beef, but
Harvey’s management did not supply any information in the Sourcing and
Trading Policies section.

The book contains Rating Tables in which companies, brands, and banner
names are given a rating (from A to F) in each category. These tables
must be used with caution and in conjunction with a reading of the
corresponding text. For example, in the “Drugstore and Pharmacy
Chains” category, Drug Trading Company Ltd. is reviewed. Among its
banners are IDA and Guardian. The ratings for Guardian and IDA are
exactly the same and rather poor. While it appears from this table that
all the independently owned and operated Guardian and IDA stores receive
an “F” in Community Responsibilities and Gender and Family Issues,
it is really the product banner, not the stores, that is being rated.

Overall, the book is a good compilation of difficult-to-find data.
Recommended for all public and academic libraries, and for individual
consumers who are concerned about ethics in the marketplace.