Chrystal, this is a particularly astute observation.  The sustainable 
consumption literature has begun to unravel some of the incredibly 
complex social meanings attributed to consumption.  The health and 
well-being connections are obvious.

Here is a small sample of on-line information:
http://www.env.leeds.ac.uk/~hubacek/leeds04/call%20for%20paper.htm
http://www.michaelmbell.net/suscon-program.htm    (note my paper linking 
healthy living and sustainable consumption second to last)
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dtcook/www/CCCnewsletter/6-2/index.html
http://www.cric.ac.uk/cric/events/kitchens/programme.htm
http://portal.surrey.ac.uk/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/ENG/STAFF/STAFFAC/JACKSONT/PUBLICATIONS/JACKSONSDRN-REVIEW.PDF
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/jiec/9/1-2

Robert


Chrystal Ocean wrote:

>Perils of Carless Parenting
>I'll drive your kid, you drive mine.
>How we still play in the favour economy.
>By Alan Thein Durning
>Published: January 2, 2007
>
>When my family decided in March not to replace our Volvo for at least a
>year, we were mostly thinking about the practical implications. We were
>thinking about pollution, of course, but also about dollars and safety and
>bus routes and walking distances.
>
>What has become evident a few months into this adventure is just how much
>our cars equate not just to money saved or spent but also to cultural
>currency. Even while we're saving bundles of cold hard cash on gas,
>insurance and upkeep, hidden costs have emerged in a social barter system
>that, like much of our culture, is car-centric.
>
>We quickly collided with the face of the car economy: other parents.
>
>The thing about parenting is that it's best done in groups, so you can share
>with others. This sharing operates largely on the gift economy. That is,
>parents do favours for each other. The most routine favour they give -- the
>currency of parenting -- is the ride: I give your kid a ride to practice;
>you give mine a ride home. You bring your kid over to play; I drive her home
>again.
>
>The swapping of rides is a convenience and a practicality, of course. But
>it's also a form of community building. In fact, anthropologists regard the
>reciprocal doing of favours as not just a form of community building but as
>the essence of community building...
>
>------------------
>
>Full article: 
>http://www.theyyee.ca/
>
>That last sentence particularly strikes me. The inability to give as much as
>we'd like - in the manner our consumer-driven society expects - was there in
>many of the stories in WISE's book and comes up frequently in my discussions
>with other people in poverty.
>
>Ocean, WISE Coordinator
>http://www.wise-bc.org/
>
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