by Expat Chef When
a friend of mine who had moved to China got pregnant, I was determined
to send her something for the new baby. I was certain that she would
not have the same convenience of supermarket-sized Baby World type
stores there. I just knew she desperately needed Baby Stuff. Funny
thing. As I toured just such a huge store, I kept choosing items from
the shelves only to turn them over and see, "Made in China." I got
desperate. After an hour of tearing through "Super Mega Baby Mart" I
began to lose my grip on reality. Seems like anything "baby" in the
U.S. originated in China. Just to be sure, I checked the soles of my
own child's feet. I have the scar, I can PROVE she was made here, but
you never know ...
I gave up. I ended up sending her books on
Pediatric Care and Childhood Development. Thankfully, they were both
printed in the United States. Many books are printed in China now. I
began to wonder, what, if anything, do we still make in this country?
Oh, yeah, food! Well, possibly not for long there either. China, yes,
China is muscling in with cheaper produce that is hurting the growers
in California who have never had an issue before. Read more about it in the New York Times. The
thing is, we have a choice. We can stop it by buying local first, then
U.S. grown produce as the next option. If your grocery store does not
post the origin of its produce, insist on it, or change stores.
Frequent your farmer's markets. Find out how you can support local agriculture. It's time for us to wake up and care about what we are eating and how our choices impact our communities and our nation. Thanks. I'll get off the soap box now. It's probably made in China as well.
