Globalization

I'm a fan of Vanity Fair magazine. I had a subscription for years in Bristol and I was very pleased when I was able to buy it here in downtown Barcelona; even that it's a couple of weeks later than in the UK and more expensive (at €8).
Then, now that we have our own flat, I thought that I can subscribe and they can sent it sent here as well. The British edition for an European annual subscription cost a whooping 65 pounds, but the American edition for international annual subscription cost $42 (which is more or less 22 pounds!).
That's ridiculous because it's the same magazine!

Of course, there is a small catch in that you need a credit card from an USA bank in order to be able to subscribe to the USA international(which is silly given that if you want the international subscription you actually live outside the states). But that was easily solved. I asked a friend who lives in Bristol but still has her bank account in the USA to do it for me and I transfer the money directly to her UK account.

Globalization has its advantages in that you are not confined to the local choices but you have your pick internationally.
I'm aware that moving goods around the world is not very eco friendly and I do try to consume wisely, using local produced goods if at all possible and we even try and cook using whatever is in season. However, from time to time we have treats such as Heinz baked beans (this is just a treat for my son, who loves beans on toast) and it feels good to have the choice. There are so many Brits in Spain that you're able to find whatever you may want from home, from tv to Worcester sauce.

Another consumer choice of mine in the UK was to have as many fair trade products as we could regarding things such as sugar, coffee and so on. However, I cannot seem to find any here in Spain. In the UK every supermarket has a selection of fair trade food, here I couldn't find any so far. I even google it and found only one shop in the old part of the city, but that's not a practical option for me.