Why are we here?

If you’ve heard our accent, you’ll note we’re not exactly from around here. We came over from Western Australia only a few years ago. The most common question we’re asked is why?…why here?

Indeed, creating a store in rural America was never our plan, but we’re so happy we landed here.

[Placeholder image: Aussies at large: Liam, Tegan & little Cedric.]

Our journey began with humanitarian work. We initially came to interview survivors of Chinese slave labor camps with the intent to develop a museum exhibit to help tell their stories and ultimately end a genocide that is tied to China’s labor camp network. There are a growing number of Chinese refugees that have escaped and taken haven in New York and Orange County, which is what drew us to this particular area. The more victims we met that shared their experiences of torture, rape and all manners of evil while being forced to make goods for those of us living in the West, the more passionate we grew about avoiding goods made in China.

Then when Covid-19 halted our museum plans, we shifted our attention to other peaceful solutions to what is happening over there – solutions we can all participate in. Global diplomacy has proven useless, so defunding the Chinese regime by adapting our spending habits and effectively boycotting tyranny has become the only remaining solution. This tactic is true not only for China, but all other systems that enslave their people.

And thanks to Freedom House, global tyranny has already been mapped out for us. We use their Freedom Map to discern which countries are safer to buy from. We’ve been quite pleasantly surprised by how much is still made here in the US and the rest of the free world. Boycotting China while in Australia just wasn’t possible. With barely any local manufacturing left Downunder, and Aussie politicians having all but sold their souls to the Chinese regime, it was easy to feel powerless. But here, with a little research, it is still viable to find a local option or, in the absence of such, an ethical choice from another free nation.

Inspired by the potential, we figured we could try and do something about the other problems the world is facing too. My background is in media and health, and Tegan is an educator with a PhD in environmental science. So we teamed up to map out global censorship, human rights abuse, neglect and environmental destruction. Such a map allows us to see what each offender has in common and gives us a big picture view of their impact on the world. China and Russia have proven themselves to be the worst of all.

We emphasize that it is not the people of these countries that are evil, but the authorities that control them. We determined that even when purchasing goods from an otherwise ethical supplier in these countries, the products are still being taxed by tyrants, thus funding further oppression or environmental damage.

Covid-19 was a wakeup call for what can happen when all our eggs are in one vulnerable basket. A country that doesn’t produce its own goods is on shaky ground. As more people started revising their lifestyles to be more self-sufficient, we saw how much more sustainable that way of living is. Any area that can produce for itself is in a healthier position during global crises; additionally, they also place less demand on international resources. This is also true on a personal level.

Looking into what it means to truly live sustainably through greater self-sufficiency showed us that, when done correctly, everyone wins. Not only is it more economical, it is also better for the environment and helps defund the slave labor market that is eroding humanity.

We started to build a PR campaign to encourage people to start buying according to their values and realized we had to first test that it was possible. And that’s the point in which the store came into play. We were able to not only find enough products to stock one store, but two (we have another store nextdoor), plus source all of the equipment for our cafe almost without a single product from countries like China… there were only a few exceptions – an electric tea kettle and the printing of some of our books (in order to still support local authors).

And that’s the good news. It is possible! It just means investing a little more in local options and a whole lot of research to find them. We recognize research takes time, which is why we share what we know and find. The fair trade market is vast, and we hope to add a lot more product lines as we move forward.

Thanks for being a part of this amazing journey! We couldn’t do it without your support.