We have rejected big corporations for a long time, like Big Music that hinders creative freedom and Big Fashion that runs sweatshops. Our stand against Big Tobacco is even more important, since the industry contributes to things like world hunger, deforestation, and animal cruelty:
World Hunger: More than 60% of tobacco-growing land in located in low-income countries where tobacco is cultivated as a cash crop for export. These countries are too poor to import food, so the tobacco crops prevent them from properly feeding their citizens. 10-20 million people could be fed if all tobacco crops were replaced with food crops
Deforestation: Up to 5.7lbs of wood is used to make one pack of cigarettes. This doesn’t even include the paper or the packaging. Also, each year, 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres) of forest are cleared to cure tobacco
Animal Cruelty: The tobacco industry uses its revenues to test tobacco products on dogs, rabbits, mice and monkeys. In one study, monkeys were killed to examine the effect of nicotine on their brains
Even worse, the tobacco industry’s pervasive marketing in the art and music scene has manufactured an image that people like us smoke. So now young people that look up to us believe that smoking is more important than creativity, music and self-expression to fit in. We’re out to change this distorted image.
Commune supports the local and thriving talent in Minnesota and every month teams up with a local band, DJ, designer and artist at Commune Wednesdays. By celebrating local and educating people about the things Big Tobacco does or contributes to, we hope to shift the creative scene image from one that smokes to one that focuses more on creativity, music and art.