Buying USA Challenge

[Quail_Antwerp]

We had made a trip to Walmart yesterday. We don't do that too terribly often, and we were not happy with our experience. One, they are remodeling the store so that they can "go green". Apparantly going green means remodeling the entire store and changing all their store foods packaging. :/

Did you know that their store brand sugar is imported from Mexico? Leaves me wondering, is any sugar, no matter the brand, from USA?

Are you aware that the American Flags being sold in stores sports a tag that says made in China? Seriously? Are you kidding me???? OUR flag? made in CHINA? What American Pride does China POSSIBLY have????

So, Ernie and I have started paying close attention to labels. Our goal for the month of September, and on going after September, is to only buy foods manufactured in the USA. Manufactured not just distributed!

We've also decided to avoid Walmart at all costs. Groceries are now being purchased solely at our local IGA. So far, all of the IGA brand foods have manufacturing companies in the USA.

Anyone else willing to join us in this challenge of buying USA only?

Oh, and I'm going to see if I can find some USA made fabric and sew my own Flag.

 

[big brown horse]

There is a flag company in Houston TX they make 100% USA made flags. I'll betcha you can google them.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I gave that a try a few months ago- could not find any pineapple made in the US at all- Couldn't find any dish towels, or shoes, or shrimp or etc. It was next to imposs9ible to find anything that was labled and made or grown in the US. Of course the non-labled ????
Some of it has to do with timing- for instance, early watermelons here are from Mexico, winter blueberries from South America, etc.
But it was incredibley hard to even find out where things were grown unless they came in a package.

 

[patandchickens]

Of course, not everywhere is buying all American-made goods necessarily the most local or popular thing, e.g. here

There must be *some* sugar still being produced in the US, as nutrient and pesticide runoff from cane fields in So. Florida has been a continuing problem in the Everglades. I would doubt that *much* sugar is grown in the US anymore, though, as it gets much more expensive if you are legally required to provide decent working/living/pay conditions for your labor force, and not make too much of an ecological mess.

Wikipedia sez the US ranked 9th in the world for sugar production in 2008. Mind, I do not know how much of that production is marketed retail as bagged white sugar, but still.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcane

E.t.a. -- IMHO it basically comes down to about 42% of the problem being that people do not want to pay $200 for a pair of shoes that, made in china, costs $50; and about 42% of the problem being that people expect easy availability of things like shrimp and pineapples which frankly (now that the offshore shrimping isn't what it used to be) are just not items the US is naturally a-rollin' in; and the remaining 6% of the problem being that comparable goods could perfectly well be produced in the US and simply aren't due to people just not giving a fig til recently where things were actually grown/made.

You do have to radically adjust your expectations about what you're going to buy and how much you're going to pay for it; if *everyone* demanded US-made goods that would change a bit but not entirely.

Pat

 

[enjoy the ride]

Maybe that's beet sugar ranking us so high- it is used mostly in pre-made food products.

 

[big brown horse]

Isn't Domino sugar made in the USA?

 

[patandchickens]

I don't think so, the table is entitled "sugarcane producers". I am far too lazy to track down an original source for it but I have no obvious reason to disbelieve Wikipedia on this one

Pat

 

[enjoy the ride]

When I was a kid and lived in Hawaii, there were huge farms of sugar cane and pineapple. Now I'm sure that it is so urbanized. Also, when I lived in Florida, shrimp were plentiful. Same thing.

I think that we have not respected our farms and land- why should places like the Philippines and Thailand, which have dense populations, be producing things when we are not doing it?
Simply it was (and probably is still) easier to make a huge profit by buying where labor is cheap and regulations are weak, than to pay Americans to do the same. It was easier to keep truning over housing to make money.

Production goes where the profit is largest. US firms would still very profitable, just not as profitable as importing. Imported products are hardly regulated at all and even those regulations are hardly enforced.

 

[Dace]

Well I am making a conscience effort not to buy any foodstuffs not grown in the US. that does not yet apply to prepackaged stuff, but more fresh stuff. If Bananas are from Chile they are not going into my cart.

I have not branched out too far but I like the idea

 

[keljonma]

We have done this for years. The consumer has to read every label on everything. For food items, it is further evidence of why we should be shopping from our property or from local farmers.

For flags - Kronberg's is in Houston, but I'm not sure that is the company BBH was talking about...
http://www.kronbergsflagsandflagpoles.com/us_flags.html

Annin & Company, Valley Forge, and Eagle Mountain are three more companies that make flags here in the States out of USA made materials.
http://www.annin.com/
http://www.united-states-flag.com/valley-forge-flags.html
http://www.eaglemountainflag.com/

Sugar is still produced in 18 states here in the USA. You can find American sugar on the shelves, if you search hard.

Produce is difficult, especially if you want items not in season. Although, one grocery near us is still carrying peaches from outside Ohio when the farm markets are full of locally grown peaches.

The only way, I think, to get markets to carry American products is to bring it to the attention of the store managers.