Not in My Food.org : Know what you're eating
Are you part of the 1-in-3 people who haven’t started their holiday shopping yet? Or maybe you still have a few more gifts to cross off your list? Then it’s not too late for you to pick up a few presents made right here in the U.S. of A.
Consider the impact, says ABC News, if we all spent just $64 of our holiday gift budgets on products made here in the US: the creation of 200,000 new jobs. (Talk about a Christmas present?)
In fact, they’ve even compiled lists and maps to help you find the Made in America products in your own state.
As an added safety bonus, toys made in the U.S. have a better track record than many imports, as we note on the Consumer Reports guide to buying safe toys.
But be ever vigilant for patriotic packaging that might make you believe a product is made here when it’s not (like this one that comes with a “USA Quality Guarantee” – and is made in China!). Look for a label that explicitly says “Made in the USA” – otherwise it probably isn’t.
I found this clothes drying rack company on
the ABC website and bought one for my mother in law. I was
really impressed with both the quality and the shipping speed.
I am very happy to be buying made in American gifts this year.
Happy holidays.
So, Christmas is officially over, and I thought I would share my ‘made in USA’ Christmas efforts…
I’ve got small children, and they don’t ask for too much… they wanted flashlights. Lucky for America, MagLite is still around. They wanted snow boots – no dice. I used to make myself feel better by buying Kamik brand (made in Canada). Well, I swear as of last year, they moved all their factories to China. So, my kids got some old Kamik boots off ebay… still made in Canada (which is not the US, I know, but pretty close). I told my relatives to buy my kids presents made in the USA. At first they were okay with that… because I don’t think they’ve ever paid attention to labels and had no idea of the challenge that lay before them! By Christmas, my less savvy relations were actually very irate about my request. I was told about 20 times, “you do realize that everything is made in China now.” And, “you DO realize this was a very difficult task resulting in your kids only getting coloring books and a couple of Eric Carle board games… so if they don’t like their presents, it’s YOUR fault.” Ha! Well, had they been a little more internet savvy and adventurous, they might have done what other relatives did and head to ETSY. My son got a hand made leather holster with his name on it to hold his hand made wooden gun. Yee-haw. Handmade cocoa mugs with their names on them. Wooden trucks. Wooden puzzles. And a few more bids on ebay brought their ‘big’ presents… vintage little people sets (the airport set from 1972 and the pop up camper set from 1979… made in the good ol’ USA.) No clothes. No shoes. No battery powered toys. And a handful of relatives who finally realized that just about everything comes from China.