Who Makes What You Buy?

For Brooklynite Scott Ballum that’s a question he’s decided to take a hard look at and to share his findings online. The Consume®econnection Project is Scott’s year-long effort to make some personal connection with someone along the production chain of everything he consumes.

The plan at the outset is to spend the next year, my 30th as it happens, hyper conscious of every consumer purchase I make. For every transaction, there must be a personal connection with someone along the production chain. Whether its the designer, factory worker, chef, farmer, or maybe even trucker, being aware of the lives touched by every product I buy will certainly enlighten me, probably surprise me, possibly shame me, and absolutely provide me with some good stories.

Scott admitted to dedicating more effort to discovering goods created somewhere near Brooklyn. But two months into the project and he’s already drove twenty-nine hours to Loretto, Kentucky to visit the Maker’s Mark Distillery. Ducking away from a tour, Scott met Jude who works as a barrel-roller.

Given that all of the Maker’s Mark Bourbon in the world is distilled in Loretto, and that Jude is one of only eighteen people who move these barrels, there’s a high likelihood that much of the Maker’s I’ve consumed in bars or at home, and will continue to consume, was aged in barrels he’s rolled.

He hopes to make more distant connections as the project progresses. He hasn’t ruled out buying something made in China at some point.

Good Magazine: Consume®econnection Project