Do you read labels and try to buy American made products? I do, especially food, even pet food and treats.

Wow it takes forever for me to shop, but I feel better doing that. I can't believe how much is not made here, and that they don't have to even say where it's made. They just say distibuted by....



Seems like the only thing I really can't find made here - that I really need - is clothing. Guess I have to get back into sewing, lol.

it take me FOREVER to shop! I read labels to make sure its made here, or as local as possible. No HFCS, no MSG, and I try to watch how many salt type products are in there. I make as many things as possible home made, but winter is tough, and we have to rely on some back up stuff. I have a full freezer, and have canned and canned and canned. I use Wellness cat/dog food. its quite pricey, but is organic/human quality, and its the only product they make. Science diet is lumped in with friskies, and purina stuff. Remember the pet food recall? I was shocked to learn how many science diet products and Iams products were on that list. I switched completely to Wellness foods.

Yep, take a book I tell my DH, we are going shopping. I have a spare pair of glasses, and a magnifying glass as well. Some of that print is awful small. I have a bar code thing I will forward you. you can tell by that UPC code where stuff is made at a glance.

You outta try to buy a toy not made in some foreign sweatshop! Even the good old Red Rider wagon is now slammed together China.

As a Canadian, I extend my search to include items made here (I think we're down to maple syrup), the USA and Europe. I'm not against trade - when all nations are made to adhere to the same safety, wage and environmental rules.

What I'm against is putting folks out of work and shipping their jobs overseas to be done by people paid a pittance and held like prisoners in unsafe factory compounds hundreds of miles away from the families they're allowed to visit once a year!!! I'm sorry but this offends my sense of social justice. There is no way our workers can “compete” with this – and no way that they should be asked to. Who benefits from this but a few fat cats at the top who are already obscenely wealthy?

I've heard it argued that if everything wasn't made by foreign slaves, products would be so expensive that we regular Joes and Janes wouldn't be able to afford to buy anything. What a crock!

Is that Red Rider wagon cheaper now that they're paying some poor Chinese slob pennies to make it? No darn way!!! All these companies move overseas (Nike, Mattel, CCM...it would take me three lifetimes to list them all) and they charge just as much as they always did. They don't pass the massive savings onto consumers - they pocket them.


These companies don’t think of the future. Who do they think will be able to buy their products when we’re all out of work and their new “employees” only make pennies? You can’t really expect selfish idiots who only think quarter to quarter, dividend to dividend to worry about the long term consequences of their short term greed. We elect people who are supposed to look out for our interests and the interests of our children and grandchildren. Yeah, right!

What really bothers me is not just that our governments (Left, Right or Centre) don't stop this deindustrialization of our economies - they actually abet it? Our governments sign the unbalanced "free" trade deals and then give the corporations tax breaks to go overseas and outsource. (Am I the only person tired of talking to underpaid people in India about my dwindling account at the local bank?) Worse still, they give billions of our tax dollars to companies like GM and Chrysler at the same time that GM and Chrysler are busy spending billion to build NEW factories in Russia, China and every other Godforsaken country you can think of.

This is a pattern that can only lead to ruin. Without a base of well-paying manufacturing jobs, mass unemployment will become a permanent feature of our economies. I'm sorry; there aren't that many "green jobs" on Mars. And what does it mean for national security when we can't feed ourselves or manufacture the most basic items necessary for survival?
For the benefit of a greedy, short-sighted few, our governments are hanging us out to dry – and making us pay for the rope!

The pet food recall was what really opened my eyes to how much food was made elsewhere.

My dogs used to eat another brand that was not involved in the recall - thank goodness! - but some of their treats were from China. Our new older dog can only eay Purina though.

I found a dog toy that benefits ASPCA (has a ribbon stitched on) made in USA - $4. They love that.



I thought manufacturers had to state where things were made - not food? But it is not on all labels.


Hockey -

I did find a few things - toys - made in USA last year at Christmas, but yikes what a hunt. Even my dollar store had a few, surprise! I also crocheted wraps for the women's gifts (yarn made in USA) and that was a huge hit.

Cannot find any holiday decorations or home decor made here or Canada - we'll need to make our own, huh?

The price thing is really untrue. Candy costs the same from here or anywhere. I bought pasta, made in USA 50 cents cheaper than made elsewhere. Lightbulbs, cheaper. Spiral notebooks and other paper stuff, cheap as or cheaper. Lots of things cheaper. Other things I'll pay more if I can find it, if I can't find it I ask can I live without it? And often you can.

As for food, it's not about the economy or slave workers - it's about safety. I don't feel safe eating things from places that continue to put lead in everything they ship to us.

Canada is fine, but some countries don't seem to know how to make decent food products.

I try to buy all of our food products as USA made. It can be very hard to find other products made here, unfortunately. All of the canned mushrooms at Walmart have been labeled made in China for the past several months.

I now only buy fresh ones. I don't mind Canadian veggies since they're our largest trade partner and they reciprocate.

I've read labels for decades for ingredients, and it's terrible to see a food or cosmetic or personal product made in China.

I buy our cat Eukanuba dry food and I hope it isn't contaminated.

I read labels religiously. Not so much to find American made 'stuff' (although if that's the better product - or a horse a piece - I'll certainly choose US). When it comes to food though, I'll always buy local if possible. Organic is preferable (and I avoid corn syrup like the plague).
Like Dejibo, I try to find the best pet food I can and that's no easy thing becuase most of what's on the shelf is crap. (I'll buy Wellness, Pet Guard or Paul Newman's).

No, I don't read labels. I also don't shop. I shoot my own meat in texas, brew my own beer from barley grown in Kansas and hops grown in Washington state, and wear shirts and pants and socks 30 years old and more than likely made in N. Carolina. My shoes were made probably in Miami because only a cuban could make such ill fitting shoes...

I only buy GM. Which invariably means I buy products made in Canada. But no. Our next car is gonna be a Cadillac CTS. Made in Poletown! This is racist but I won't even attempt to spell Hamtramck in Detroit.

Now, my wife shops. So I get to eat, cuz my only gun can't hit a can of beans at 10 yards...

Ok, this brings a funny story to mind. About 8 years ago, I was managing the construction of 4 new schools in Houston. This involved tearing down existing buildings. My abatement contractor accidently sampled NEW roofing mastic and it came back positive for asbestos. This mastic (roofing tar) came in 5 gallon buckets with 5" high letters saying "ASBESTOS FREE." Yeah. Right... Made in Mexico.

Oh hey - Cathy, I only eat hungarian sausages made in Toledo Ohio!

Tom

Most of what I eat is whole foods and what isn't I make sure it is local or from Canada. Reading the labels is imperative because so much gunk is included in almost everything packaged.

Hockey, I agree with everything in your post. It seems like the middle class workers have been sold out due to greed and I am so sorry for their plight.

gmi