A trip to my local grocery store this weekend was an eye opener. A few months back I began mentioning to store employees that I noticed hardly any fruits and veggies were from local farmers and were from such faraway locations as Chile, Equador and Mexico. I queried them why they did not carry locally grown produce, and they squirmed and struggled for a response. I did notice, however, that in the coming months more locally grown produce began appearing.
Which is why this weekend's shop was so shocking to me. Every fruit I picked up was grown in Mexico, Equador, or Chile. I found no California-grown fruit. When I picked up the asparagus, I noticed the attached tag did not indicate place of origin. I then noticed a sticky tag placed on the asparagus itself and it read, in very small print, that the asparagus was grown in Chile. Do we not grow asparagus right here in California?
As I then ventured into the rest of the store I found almost every item, in every category - cheese, cereals, breads, canned goods, cleaning supplies, had a portion grown or produced in a foreign country. This disturbs me as it should you.
Pick up your most recent catalog from your favorite store be it Macy's, LL Bean, JC Penney, Target, and take a look at the origin of just about every piece of merchandise and you will find it originated overseas. Store management I am sure will argue that Americans don't want to spend a lot of money on clothes, gift items, etc. While that may have been our thinking in the past, I'm sure there are Americans out there who would agree to pay higher prices if it meant our fellow Americans had jobs.
We need to join the folks protesting on Wall Street and throughout the USA, defying corporate greed for profits and kicking to the curb Americans who are struggling to find jobs, and live the American dream. Demand that stores sell USA made merchandise. Ask your local grocery store to stock only USA grown and locally produced items.
We have just begun rethinking how we live our lives. We are now much more frugal, we think twice before reaching for that credit card to purchase a "want" vs a need, we frequent and purchase gently used clothes at consignment shops, Salvation Army stores and estate sales. We sleuth out great bargains on E-Bay and other sites, antique stores, and even our local garage sales.
We now need to take that one step further, and give this thinking our voice. Speak out for America, ask for American made goods and be willing to pay a bit more.
Americans want and need to work, let's begin today.
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