"Made In America" - Is it an issue in your house?

[Bang!Zoom!]

I've lived in areas where this was a huge deal, and now live in an area where the social stress is more on recycling as a "movement".

 

It's interesting.

 

The topic of Made In America came up tonight in the house; and I think some of the questions raised were really good. We are going around looking at labels and examples, the bigger picture of it all.

 

Do you do any value teaching or awareness in your home?

 

How do you do it?

[Aelwydd]

I support both domestically (local/regional is best) made products and recycling/being green. I don't see them as being mutually exclusive or anything. Frankly, I think they go hand-in-hand most of the time.

 

I'd rather have something made by Americans in a company or workplace that has standards and regulations to make sure that they have a minimum wage, decent working conditions, safety regs, etc. As opposed to having it made by workers in a job that was likely shipped overseas by corporations trying to cut labor costs, because they can pay less wages, don't have to have such decent working conditions, and so on.

 

And then, have those same goods shipped, using carbon-based fuels, to the US.

 

I dislike that so many products come to market via the second route, instead of the first. I think it poses ethical issues that include environmentalism, but also human/worker rights. So for all those reasons, I prefer to buy American (or Canadian, since they're next door and not running labor camps).

 

ETA: We talk to ds frequently about being responsible stewards, and not taking care to reduce waste, or cause poisonous substances to enter land, air, and water. He has asked why we rarely go to Walmart (and Target, except for local food items sold there), and we've explained because so many items there are made in China and other countries, and it's not a good idea have to depend on others to make all our stuff. He's 8, so we have to keep it pretty uncomplicated right now.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Aelwydd

[YLVD]

I've lived in areas where this was a huge deal, and now live in an area where the social stress is more on recycling as a "movement".

 

It's interesting.

 

The topic of Made In America came up tonight in the house; and I think some of the questions raised were really good. We are going around looking at labels and examples, the bigger picture of it all.

 

Do you do any value teaching or awareness in your home?

 

How do you do it?

 

Hmm, no, not really.

 

I'm in an area that has mandatory recycling so the focus is more on that.

[Joker]

Our dds check labels with us when we go shopping. If there is something similar to what we want with "Made is USA" on it we buy that item. We don't avoid buying just because we can't find the label. We also recycle. Our county picks up recyclables every week so the girls help out with that as well. It's not either / or. Dds do seem frustrated that so many things we need/want are made in China and usually go with something made elsewhere - even if not the US.

[Bang!Zoom!]

My oldest daughter (now living on her own) participates in brand boycotts, she is your classic "tree-hugger" profile.

 

She probably started that behavior around 17 or so.

 

My youngest daughter is 8 yrs. old; and it's probably too early to introduce her to the finer ideals of boycotts..(I think).

 

So now, thinking, I am seeing different categories with consumer behavior I might want to talk about.

 

The carbon issue, the local issue, the recycling issue should play in here as well.

[Aelwydd]

Yeah, there's also other issues involving health. For example, I love strawberries and other fresh veggies and fruit. Here in Texas, a lot of times I see strawberries shipped in from Mexico, as well as those shipped from places like California.

 

Because the fresher veggies are, the more nutrients they retain, I think the shorter the period between being picked and eaten, the better. One could argue that it's better to buy the Mexican strawberries, because they might come from farms closer than CA.

 

But, I don't know if the farms in Mexico are under the same strict standards regarding things like fertilization (don't want to get E. coli. from contamination!), or the kinds of pesticides used, as well as the amounts of it used. Individual farms there might be as good or better than some U.S. farms, but I know for sure that U.S. do have to meet certain standards, and there are regs on the use of pesticides.

 

So, in order of my purchasing preference:

 

1. Locally grown produce, especially farmer's markets

2. Regionally grown produce, or produce brought in from CA and other states

3. Produce from Mexico, or other countries--some things are just not in season anywhere else, or are specially grown there

 

There's also the question of organic farms versus the more conventional ones, but that's another post. :)

[Bang!Zoom!]

If anyone knows of materials/guides available on the idea of ethical shopping (which are meant for teaching a child or child friendly) I'd be so interested to hear this.

 

I can find a ton of resources geared toward more complex breakdowns/databases and such for adults, but not any so far in the child view realm.

 

My oldest daughter is an absolute nightmare to try to shop her list is so strict.

 

makeup/animal ethics

food/organic & vegan

clothing/sweatshops

 

and so on and so on...

[Audrey]

Well.... obviously not American, but here there is quite a focus on local shopping. That includes using local businesses, but also includes local food and other locally made products. The province actually has a campaign for local food, and many municipalities also promote "local" quite a lot. Recycling, here, is a given.

 

It is hard to find products made locally or even made in Canada anymore, but they are there if you are willing to spend the time to hunt for them. The problem is, though, that cheap imports are, well... cheaper. You have to weight the value for dollar and your personal budget against the value of buying local. You often get far better quality with local and/or Canadian made products, but if you haven't got the extra money to spend, it can be a moot point.

 

We do our best to buy local, but there are times when our budget just can't accomodate it.

[Sharon H in IL]

My oldest daughter is an absolute nightmare to try to shop her list is so strict.

 

makeup/animal ethics

food/organic & vegan

clothing/sweatshops

 

and so on and so on...

 

Oh I hear you. Being completely perfect is probably hard on her, but it has to be exhausting for her mama! :lol:

 

Seriously, though, we all have to prioritize, or else we will go nuts. Some days, I'm all in Camp Green. And then I have my Workers of the World, Unite! days when I realize how supporting union workers is key. And then, I pass up a deal on Nestle condensed milk because they willingly starve babies of their mothers' milk for a profit. Sigh. I am never going to be consistent, because I have multiple priorities, and I'm always shuffling them. :glare:

[Bang!Zoom!]

I wish sometimes there was a video camera following us around in a shop it's so funny at points.

 

I put something in the basket, she takes it out while lecturing me on the background of whatever *evil* it contains. I huff, she puffs, strangers nearby start to slow down, lingering...getting the side-eye, to eavesdrop. Geesh!

 

When I was coming up, my father (career military) was stern about this issue to the point of telling folks not to park in his driveway if it was an import. I'm sure some of you have run into this mindset. I was raised in the automotive belt land.

 

On top of that, he was very community/issue awake, we learned to debate (not argue) over dinner every night various social issues, attended rallies and going to vote for the first time was the absolute ultimate passage.

 

I think I passed on some of those attitudes and exposures to my oldest daughter; she is very much an activist and believes in putting her money where her mouth is. She does a much better job than I do, and she's just touching "hippy" in lifestyle.

 

I don't know how much I had to do with the eventual outcome with the oldest one; but this has caused me some reflection with the youngest.

 

I wonder for her sake what is going to have the largest impact in the future consumer behavior she has, a good path for her to be thoughtful, ethical and prioritize for benefit of the world I'm sending her into one day at a time.

 

What will be the biggest challenges and impacts our children will face in the future with consumerism and personal choices?

[WishboneDawn]

In Canada but I don't pay much attention to "Made in Canada" labels. I prefer to go used or local.

[regentrude]

I try to buy locally grown produce as much as possible.

For clothes, less is more, I buy only what is needed, and used if I can.

Generally, I try to buy as little "stuff" as possible.

For consumer goods, we research extensively and know exactly what quality and features we want in the product, and then buy according to this. I would not want to settle for lesser quality or have it lack features just to have soething made in America. (We drive Japanese cars because no American car offers the features we want.)

[Orthodox6]

The market, coupled with my available income, conspire against my preferences. Quality being equal, I want American-made products. That working definition does NOT include products manufactured abroad by U.S. companies.

 

In some instances, dh and I will "award the palm" for quality to a foreign company: automobiles, music players, moderate-priced violins, for examples.

 

Sometimes, a needed product no longer is made in America -- anywhere. The example cited on reflex is the umbrella.

 

"China-bashing" occurs among our household. Perhaps we wax unfair in our degree of this, but the temptation is powerful. The ever-increasing degree of foreign ownership of U.S. real estate and corporations -- with China heavily involved, but other nations active as well -- can unnerve one.

 

I'm drawn toward the experiments one reads about, families who "cleanse" their homes from Chinese manufactured goods. I also shudder to contemplate how depleted our possessions would be, following the exercise! (although said depletion undoubtedly would be for our good in the sense that we have too much "stuff")

 

The daughter's list referenced is not difficult to follow for the first two lines, if one lives in a large city. Clothing is very tricky, because one first must research the specific clothing companies for their business practices. The "quick-and-dirty" approach for clothing, fraught with error, but loosely useful, is to reject clothing with labels citing particular countries-of-origin.

makeup/animal ethics

food/organic & vegan

clothing/sweatshops [END QUOTE]

 

For produce, I stick as well as I can to the "dirty dozen" list, and buy organic for those items. If the only "version" of something is imported from far-along-on-the-way to the South Pole, I skip it. Local produce preferred when I can buy it, and it is not on the "dirty dozen". I will not swallow any food product from China, and have my unresearched hesitancies about Thailand. Mexican farming practices, from the limited reports that I have read, appear to be such that I do not want to consume produce from Mexico. Organic, non-organic, does not matter in this case. Here in North Texas, Mexican produce is ubiquitous. I rarely buy fresh tomatoes any more from this constraint.

 

Then we have my personal peculiar hostility: waxed cucumbers. :ack2: ! If I want to purchase a large candle, I won't buy it from the produce section.

 

As always with reality, one does what one can within the practical limitations.

 

P.S. We (family) always shall remember the malarkey splashed across U.S. billboards and magazines some years ago by WalMart. The company made a noisy commitment to selling American-made products whenever it would be possible. . . . That tanked faster than did their equally noisy "commitment" to selling a large range of organic food products.

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2011 by Orthodox6

[creekland]

In our household we try for and will pay extra for Made in the US items with our second choice being anywhere except likely "slave labor" types of places. We will buy from third world countries if part of some sort of fair labor type of thing.

 

We also recycle anything possible.

 

It's just the way we are and the way we've brought our boys up since birth.

[Jenny in Atl]

A funny observation on the whole "buy USA only"... We were next to a truck during the don't buy anything French phase. The dude had a buy American sticker on his bumper (it was a Ford, I think) but he had Michelin tires. My husband and I had a great laugh. I'm sure the truck driver thought we were loony. :D

[WishboneDawn]

No, "made in America" isn't really an issue for us. It's not that I don't support it, it is just that it is nearly impossible to find many goods made in USA.

 

And honestly, the "Made in..." selling point doesn't communicate a lot to me. It could mean it was assembled in Canada in the US but with parts made in China. It could mean they didn't use child labour in India but their factory in NA offered horrible pay, no benefits and awful working conditions. It could mean a company that used to employ people here but moved several rvinces away and left local people out of work.

 

I'm very sceptical of the "Made in..." selling point.

[Punchie]

Something I think ppl overlook/forget/don't know - Just b/c it was made in the US doesn't mean the component parts were. This throws a wrench in the plan to buy only American. It's a lot more complicated than what label says.

[Orthodox6]

Something I think ppl overlook/forget/don't know - Just b/c it was made in the US doesn't mean the component parts were. This throws a wrench in the plan to buy only American. It's a lot more complicated than what label says.

 

This is a good point. Labels often, however, have expanded information such as "Assembled in the USA from imported parts". I even have read the inverse. [?!] . . . I don't remember off-hand the verbiage for made completely in the U.S. from U.S.-produced parts.

 

My children have been pleased over the years by unexpected "sightings" of garment labels announcing "Made in Greece". They love their dual-heritage!

[Impish]

Frankly, I can't afford to have morals when it comes to getting what my family needs.

 

I buy what I can afford.

[K&Rs Mom]

We try to, but most things are really hard to find a local option. My 8yo really got a lot out of this book.

[HoneyFernDotOrg]

@WendyK, off topic, but I love your signature. Hilarious.

 

We have been following the "Made in America" series on ABC News, and it has been interesting how many people on it are totally oblivious to the fact that the majority of good sold in the US are not made here. How could you not know so much stuff was manufactured elsewhere?

 

We have been more cognizant of our purchases and will definitely pay a little more to buy something made here if we can. It is difficult to be spontaneous if you force yourself to buy only US-made goods; there just aren't that many and they are hard to find.

 

I also try to support small business way more than I used to. We rarely eat out, but when we do, we stay away from chains and eat at independent restaurants; we buy homemade goods from small businesses and do all of our office-type business at small shops owned independently (my favorite is the one called "Going Postal.").

 

I am not against imports, but if everyone in the country made just small changes to their buying habits we could help climb out of the hole.

[jenangelcat]

I think buying used where possible should be the priority, then local can come next.

 

Recycling is great and all but consumption needs to be reduced as well. You can recycle all you want but if you are constantly buying new goods, you're not really offsetting anything.

[happygrrl]

I support both domestically (local/regional is best) made products and recycling/being green. I don't see them as being mutually exclusive or anything. Frankly, I think they go hand-in-hand most of the time.

 

I'd rather have something made by Americans in a company or workplace that has standards and regulations to make sure that they have a minimum wage, decent working conditions, safety regs, etc. As opposed to having it made by workers in a job that was likely shipped overseas by corporations trying to cut labor costs, because they can pay less wages, don't have to have such decent working conditions, and so on.

 

And then, have those same goods shipped, using carbon-based fuels, to the US.

 

I dislike that so many products come to market via the second route, instead of the first. I think it poses ethical issues that include environmentalism, but also human/worker rights. So for all those reasons, I prefer to buy American (or Canadian, since they're next door and not running labor camps).

 

ETA: We talk to ds frequently about being responsible stewards, and not taking care to reduce waste, or cause poisonous substances to enter land, air, and water. He has asked why we rarely go to Walmart (and Target, except for local food items sold there), and we've explained because so many items there are made in China and other countries, and it's not a good idea have to depend on others to make all our stuff. He's 8, so we have to keep it pretty uncomplicated right now.

 

 

:iagree: