Does that help them? It makes the trade that at sports the abuses less financially viable, but that might make the abuses worse. If the trade stops they lose their jobs and money stops flowing from wealthier regions to poorer regions.

Fair trade is better than no trade (other things being equal) if you want to support foreign workers.

Just global trade systems are a hard problem, as I see it, and really can't be organised from the consumer end (ie by simply choosing where/if to buy goods).

>"boycott of shipped goods"

And all those poor sailors suddenly retire and live happily ever after, NOT. Buying local is not a solution to sailors and not a solution to buyers either as so many things are simply not being made locally.

What is needed is a control. If company does things like this then countries can start issuing huge fines should any ship of said company visit the their ports. That'll teach them proper.

Local producers are still very likely to be making use of goods shipped from overseas. You can't boycott your way out of the global economy.

Do you know of any good ways to find these ultra-local sources of goods efficiently?

For food, farmer's markets usually work well; if you can't find one locally whose hours and sellers sync up with your food needs, look at all your local grocers - there should be at least one who gets a lot of local goods, and puts signs on the shelves proclaiming this.

Note that farmers markets don't guarantee that the produce is actually local. Realistically you'd need to camp out early enough to catch them shipping it on site to figure out where it's actually from.

Usually its obvious that the heirloom produce they are selling would be impossible to ship long distances. an heirloom tomato is amazingly fragile compared to a roma bred for shipping.

Or you can talk to them, gauge their trustworthiness, and ask around about their reputation.

I don't think you'll find tomatoes and salad in these ships. Most of the poorly run ships will not go to first world harbors with safety controls etc.

Thanks. Any ideas about sourcing manufactured goods locally?

Go to the "bad side of the tracks" and walk in. All towns have a bunch of generic machine shops that can manufacture. Look for welders, machinists, sheet metal and that type of thing in the name. Then walk into the office.

Note that few of them will do the design/engineering work for you. But if you have a "blueprint" they will build it. Be prepared to pay - they are all making good wages for your city not third world step above slave wages.

I was thinking more finished goods made locally, rather than custom-made. I’m guessing the coverage will be pretty meager, though. But good advice for the next time I want something a bit more unique, thanks!

It’ll never be possible. Locally produced food/gadgets were made using raw materials and equipment that were likely imported.

The raw material was extracted and the equipment itself was produced by yet another layer of equipment. And so on, until you get to the iron ore and copper and so on. No way will all of that be local.

Problem: failing shipping companies are leaving their crews stuck on vessels abandoned in ports.

Solution: make more of these companies fail?