There are some good things that will come from the Chinese virus crisis and one of those just could be a resurgence in the ‘Made in the USA Movement.’
Frankly, I wasn’t paying much attention to where my purchases were being produced, whether it was a new mattress or the food I’ve been putting in the freezer.
LOL! Our microwave quit a few months ago and my husband insisted we find one made in America. No luck after hours of research on the net and a phone call to our local appliance store. So now we get by the old fashioned way—without one!
However, the Smithfield Foods fiasco and the near complete dominance of China in many aspects of our consumer lives that has been revealed in recent weeks has me paying more attention.
Many of you may have seen a facebook post circulating which makes a couple of claims including these:
FOOD FROM CHINA… Smithfield Farms, the largest pork producing farm in the USA, was sold in September to China with the unanimous support of its stockholders! The hogs will still be raised here, but slaughtered and packaged for sale there before being sent back here.
[….]
Chickens
The same applies to many chickens. They can now be shipped there, but when they come back all that needs to be labeled is that they ‘WERE RAISED IN THE USA’. Not that they were processed in China!!!
This morning I wanted to see where the information was coming from and what was being said about it.
I don’t believe anything that the biased Snopes says, so I didn’t go there. And, I am not saying that USA Today’s ” fact checkers” are any more reliable, but they did provide some information especially about the ownership of Smithfield Foods that appears legit.
LOL! But USA Today glossed over some of the other issues raised in the post.
By the way, it makes no sense to raise hogs here and ship them live to China for processing as the facebook post claims is happening. Indeed that is why China bought at least one BIG MEAT company here—much easier to ship pork to China and elsewhere once it is packaged!
For readers of Refugee Resettlement Watch you might recall that China was looking to build and own a beef plant in Montana a couple of years ago. It only makes sense to go where the cattle are still on the hoof and slaughter there!
I searched around and found an organization called “The Made in America Movement.” I’m way out of my comfort zone on this topic so I can’t vouch for them, or others like them, but it is worth having a look!
So, now I am headed to the freezer to read some labels!
Ann, I quit buying Chicken of the Sea tuna years ago when I found out that company moved to China. Saw films of the deplorable conditions chicken and other products were raised and processed.
It took a while, but I found RAINCOAST tuna out of British Columbia. It is not only caught there, it is packaged there…..no China or Indonesia companies involved.
The Tuna is a solid piece in the can. There is very little fluid. It is delicious.
For awhile I could find it in Walmart and other grocery stores. Then slowly there was not any because so many people were buying it and these stores carried little of it to begin with because Chicken of the Sea was predominately on the shelves.
My solution: I ordered a case of 12 straight from the company. It’s cheaper that way in the long run and I don’t have to go on “the hunt” to find it.
Check out http://www.MadeInAmericaList.com and add companies you find that are made in America!
I’m old enough to remember when we stopped manufacturing here and our businesses moved to China for cheaper labor. Rush Limbaugh has been bragging for years that Buchanan’s type didn’t belong to the Republican Party (using the buggy whip story). Midnight talkshow hosts also have been claiming that China’doesn’t make everything we use’. It was American businessmen who moved their businesses to China. If they want to play the America First game then let them. But I wouldn’t protest in the streets for them. The Party just needs another excuse to build up our Military. We need to keep our eyes on their Middle East covert wars instead.
Ann, We have a relative in the for selling/ marketing business and he claims all fresh seafood is packaged in China as well. So they must be really good at packaging. Frankly I don’t trust anything made or packaged there. No standards to follow like the good ole USA strict standards. But like you say it is very hard to find anything that wasn’t somehow touched by China. Now that we are mad at them over the virus and they are mad at us for publicizing it, they are threatening to withhold some of our much needed drugs etc. It is a scary and terrible situation to be in. I ask often times, what is our congress doing? They should be investigating and protecting us. But instead they fight amongst themselves and accomplish very little. Why do they get such a nice little salary?
A steamer is much better than a microwave and healthier.
Ann you provide us with so much good information! Books I have read and think are worth reading. ChinaRx/Gibson, Bottle of Lies/Eban, Poorly Made in China/Midler.
When you start looking for products made in China its overwhelming there is so much. The thing they seems to be best at is fake products and product fade. Scary stuff.
Excellent work..
This is a serious problem..
First Smithfield was sold in 2014 to the Chinese so they have been ingrain for the last six-year. When the Federal Legislatures in Washington DC were approached by ? to have no point of origin labels on products not made and produced in the USA they voted in the affirmative. One of the Senators was our own NH Representative Republican Kelly Ayotte who lost to Maggie Hassen in the next election. I wrote to Kelly and asked her to vote against this policy but she refused. If you want to investigate this that is the year to start with all the representatives who were in Washington DC during this policy vote 2014.
After reading about the impurities in China steel, I began researching all brands of flatware and found that all but one were made in China. Not wanting to eat from contaminated stainless steel, we ordered our flatware from the American company, which uses steel made in America.
I understand that the Chinese have purchased manufacturing plants of various kinds in Italy so that they can make goods and label them Made in Italy, which until now has indicated quality goods.
Not to mention all the clothing. Better clothing is made in China from fabrics produced elsewhere, but cheap clothing? I wouldn’t trust it.
Thank you Ann..
I wouldn’t have a microwave in my house. When “they” were ready to market them, they hired someone to check them out; he did, and told them what was wrong with them. ‘They” paid him off and put them on the market for another killing–the slow kill kind–because now we know that microwave makes changes in the food that makes it unrecognizable to the body as food. Most Americans are already deficient in minerals. I use a toaster oven for lots of things. Hope you’ll get rid of your microwave.