Made In The U.S.A.

It has long chapped my britches that so much of the stuff we buy is made in other countries. It has hit home a little harder since the recent problems with tainted chocolate candy from China. I found myself stopping strangers in the store when I saw them looking at bags of "generic" chocolate at Halloween and Easter, telling them to be sure they weren't buying candy made in China. When the kids brought home their Halloween candy, we went through and took out all the "generic" chocolate candy. Not that we are snobs, we just didn't want our children to get sick or poisoned. Same deal with kitties and doggies. Remember the folks who lost their pets because of the tainted food from China? Of course, no manufacturer is exempt from fluke contamination issues, as we have recently seen here in the USA with peanut butter and various fruits/vegetables/meats over the past few years. Those events were indeed tragic, but somehow they seem a little less sinister than those caused by tainted products imported from outside the walls of our country, where the regulations are minimal to non-existent. At least in the USA an effort is made to verify the safety and quality of the products through various government agencies that mandate inspection of the products. Besides the quality-control issue, is the fact that when we buy imported products, (especially from American-owned companies who have outsourced their work force) we are supporting the very concept that has resulted in the loss of thousands, perhaps millions of jobs across our land. The mentality that the American business owner can profit more by paying pennies on the dollar to overseas employees is a practice that should be ILLEGAL in this country, and their products should be boycotted by all American citizens. I have firsthand knowledge of this situation, because medical transcription has been outsourced to "transcriptionists" in India and Pakistan for quite some time now. I don't blame those women, they are just trying to feed their babies, in a country that puts low value on women to start with. They are able to make good money (for them) at a fraction of what it costs to pay a medical transcriptionist here at home. :::I need to get off this soapbox right now... my blood pressure is starting to rise:::

I'll have to revisit this post topic again sometime. For right now, though, I'd like to share an e-mail I received (that prompted this post topic). Disclaimer- As with everything I post that I "hijack" from somebody else, I can't validate any of these statements. However, it doesn't really matter to me if the specifics are accurate... the principle that it brings to mind is indeed valid. Here ya go. And remember: Buy American whenever possible!!!!!
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the e-mail reads: Check this out. I can verify this because I was in Lowes theother day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China. The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA . Start looking. In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job. So, after reading this email,I think this lady is on the right track. Let's get behind her! My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more. My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now. I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything. This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next tothe GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, "Everyday Value." I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was thefact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in- get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland , Ohio. So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here. So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets....yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada . The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been usingfor years and at almost half the price! So my challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in theUSA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbor's! (emphasis Cathy) We need to start buying American, one light bulb at atime! Stop buying from overseas companies! (We should have awakened a decade ago......) Let's get with the program.... help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U.S.A.
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Get the picture? Let's buy American Made as much as possible. Let's educate ourselves in which manufacturers, though they may be American-owned, embrace overseas labor practices to realize more profit- at the expense of American jobs. Let's read those labels in the store and choose the products made right here at home.

(And now, having "preached" this little sermon, I will probably cringe to find that my favorite products are imported... and I'll have to suffer needless loss... Sigh.....Sometimes doing the right thing isn't the fun or easy thing.)