USA food, and not made in CHINA

**ladytoysdream** · 10-25-2010, 01:52 PM

So here I am in the dollar store, and this lady is reading the label on the candy bars. Another lady is also standing there. Me, I just want a bag of them chocalate peanut butter bar thingies I picked up the other day. I figure one bag at a time is plenty of trouble.
So I am reading the label also. The one bag says a import place that is located in PA. So that one gets put back. The bag I wanted is USA, whew

So we stand there comparing thoughts about buying USA food products and not from China. So I wander around to the next aisle, and bump into another lady I know and she too is reading the labels. So that made 4 of us in that store at the same time all being careful of what we buy.

Anyone else reading labels lately ?

**Darlene** · 10-25-2010, 02:38 PM

Yep. I'm hyper vigil with my frozen fish. If it's from China, no way is it going in my cart. Seems like all the halfway decently priced fish is from there but I'll do without.

**Pianolady** · 10-25-2010, 02:59 PM

I read all food labels. There's no way I'm eating anything imported from China.

**pollypurebred39** · 10-25-2010, 03:05 PM

Always! I make a serious effort to not purchase anything unless it was produced in the USA, Canada, or have fair trading practices. Not interested in purchasing from countries that falsely mess with the value of their $, or have unfair labor practices, or use pesticides that are banned in the USA.

If it is available made in the USA, then I Seek it out and am willing to pay far more to support the American worker. I need a broom, try and find one made in the USA! I waited, and looked and looked, guess what? I found it handmade, and a fabulous one too! I set aside an envelope to save the $12 for it, and I'll be getting it soon. I'd rather save and wait. That purchase will help to insure an American has a job.

If more would would take the time to hunt down made in the USA, far fewer would be unemployed in the USA. I might be broke, but I know what it means when you don't have a job because your job is shipped somewhere else, or slave labor has moved into your country and your job was stolen out from under you, so I'll look harder & pay the extra. Call me patriotic.

**Natalie's Nesters** · 10-25-2010, 03:13 PM

Try to find canned mushrooms that are Not from China, even the PA Dutch brand is! No way! We should shop together, I'm the other crazy lady standing in the aisles reading everything. With a group of us doing it , it would be normal!

**Izzybeff** · 10-25-2010, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by Natalie's Nesters

Try to find canned mushrooms that are Not from China, even the PA Dutch brand is! No way! We should shop together, I'm the other crazy lady standing in the aisles reading everything. With a group of us doing it , it would be normal!

My husband simply asked our local grocery store if they could get mushrooms made in the US and if they could, he would take a couple of cases. They ordered them in for us and started stocking them regularly!

Aldi is the place you really have to watch. A lot of their food is made out of the country.

**shoiji** · 10-25-2010, 05:48 PM

I am constantly reading labels. Even if it is made in the US I refuse to eat hydrogenated oils, fake sugars, and over processed foods.

**Imarachne** · 10-25-2010, 08:06 PM

At least most of us are conscious of ingredients in foods--can't be too careful, huh ?

**AspiringToBeFrugal** · 10-26-2010, 01:51 AM

Honestly, food made in places OTHER than the U.S. freaks me out. I mean if some of these countries have companies that are repeatedly getting fined/in trouble for high lead levels in toys, think about the lax safety standards they probably have for food products?

I will GLADLY pay more for an item made in the U.S. It means one more American worker has a job. But it is getting harder and harder to find items made in the U.S. After looking at ALL the golf balls Wal-Mart had available (my sis is a golf fan and wanted some for her birthday), I finally found some made by Titleist that were marked "MADE IN THE USA!" I immediately put them in my cart!

What are some of the other brands that are made here? I'd like to find a comprehensive list so that I can check these items out and start buying those as an alternative to the majority of items available!

I know Lodge Logic (castiron pans and such) are generally marked "Made in the USA" and I think some NordicWare is as well.

**ladytoysdream** · 10-26-2010, 06:16 AM

Originally Posted by AspiringToBeFrugal

What are some of the other brands that are made here? I'd like to find a comprehensive list so that I can check these items out and start buying those as an alternative to the majority of items available!

I know Lodge Logic (castiron pans and such) are generally marked "Made in the USA" and I think some NordicWare is as well.

Try this list. ( from a post RUSS made in another thread )

http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/cont...gasoline.shtml

Still Made in USA.com - American-Made Products for Home and Family

http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/cont...-samples.shtml

American Made Products and/or Services Made in USA

U.S. Stuff Product - The Best of Model Year 2008 Cars, Trucks, Vans, Sport Utilities, etc Made in USA

USA Made Clothing Jeans and Shirts by All American

**ladytoysdream** · 10-26-2010, 06:34 AM

Because of our budget and the constand need to make ends meet, we have to be more careful what we buy.

One thing that has helped us quite a bit, is to have a good size garden. I can and I freeze a good amount. I have bought some food from the farmer's market local. Mainly stuff I can't grow well or did not have enough of. The other thing we do is have chickens in our backyard. I know the eggs are not free because of the amount of feed that we have to put into these birds, but I sure like knowing where my eggs are coming from. And from selling a few items this summer at the market through the cousin's stand, I know first hand from talking to people that they too WANT to know where the food comes from. One concern of theirs is also how the animals are being cared for. I get a lot of questions about the chickens. And more people are wanting a few hens for their backyard.

Support the small farmers. Keeps the money local too

I did sell some canning jars this year on craigslist. People are getting back to basics and or enlarging on what they can and need more jars. One thing I found out recently is that some of the brand new canning jars are now coming from CHINA

( " Ball Corporation no longer sells home canning products. Ball spun off that part of their business in 1993 as Alltrista Corporation (which is now Jarden Corp.). Since 1993. the Alltrista Corporation has been manufacturing the Ball glass canning jars. They also make Kerr, Bernardin and Golden Harvest canning jars." )

**MomToTwoBoys** · 10-26-2010, 09:57 AM

It amazes me how shut-in most people want to be when they live in a country that boasts 'Bring your tired, your poor, your masses yearning to be free' but they can't accept food from other countries.

Here's something for you all to nibble on:

Unless you're growing and producing your own goods, you're open to any type of contamination from even within your own country.

It's like saying terrorists only come from outside of the US.

**Judi Dial** · 10-26-2010, 10:25 AM

I just found a link to a federal report about goods produced in other countries with child and child-slave labor. That will be added to my equation as well.

Re the contimanation in the U.S. made products? Of course that's possible, but it's also possible for a U.S. citizen to contact their congresscritters, various state agencies, etc. to find out which companies have had problems, try to fix problems, etc.... I don't have that access in Angola say.

Judi

**MomToTwoBoys** · 10-26-2010, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Judi Dial

I just found a link to a federal report about goods produced in other countries with child and child-slave labor. That will be added to my equation as well.

Re the contimanation in the U.S. made products? Of course that's possible, but it's also possible for a U.S. citizen to contact their congresscritters, various state agencies, etc. to find out which companies have had problems, try to fix problems, etc.... I don't have that access in Angola say.

Judi

See, now I can accept that. I can accept it when consumers actually do their homework and support their openly-stated opinions. I can't argue with that. What I can argue with, however, is people who say that they simply won't buy from another country.

A responsible consumer who feels that he/she cannot purchase items from a particular area of the world really needs to have a good reason to do so. If people choose to buy from areas where they practice fair trade and those areas also have restrictions on how said products are produced (that are easily available through a governmental website that's dedicated to practices related to international consumerism), that's totally fine.

I'm just tired of seeing people alienate another country just because.

I find it fine if people want to buy from the US to help support local workers. I'm all about supporting the local worker. What I am not all about is people alienating another culture in the process of stating their opinion.

It makes for a smarter consumer.

**xtena** · 10-26-2010, 11:58 AM

I have a number of reasons why I will not purchase food made in China. There have been a number of highly publicized cases in recent years of contaminated food coming out of China. Say, for instance, Melamine in infant formula and powdered milk products. There were also problems with an ingredient in pet food that was imported from China and led to massive recalls and the deaths of many pets. And lets not forget that must-have toy a couple of years back (that I did forget the name of, LOL but it had to do with colorful beads that could be made to stick together). The company substituted a cheaper chemical than what they were supposed to use. When ingested, the substitute chemical was very similar to the date-rape drug and children were poisoned.

There have been innumerable non-publicized cases involving food issues in China. I actually lived in China for many years and know first-hand of the health and safety violations that go on there.

As for non-edible consumer goods, I won't even go into the sweat shop issue. I know it's a vicious cycle; we desire cheap goods; jobs are lost; wages go down; we desire even cheaper goods...I have no idea how to break the cycle aside from not buying many new consumer goods!

Of course we have had issues here as well, with food especially but like someone else pointed out, at least here the government can take action to punish the offending company. And if they don't, well the people can take action by boycotting the products.