Well today was the first true test of Adam's and my new goal to buy only products made or grown in the United States. We started out this morning rather uneducated but what our day taught us is that we have a lot to learn and much research to do before we can truly say we've done this.
Some things we faced this morning:
1.) Normally grocery shopping is a super easy and enjoyable part of our week. We do it on Sunday mornings while the rest of Texas is at church, thereby avoiding the crowds. Usually we go out for breakfast first and then go to the store, where we buy pretty much the exact same products from week to week. We're not adventurous eaters, most of you know. Such a routine is easily accomplished in pretty much any state of mind. But we're not doing routine anymore. Our lives have changed now, and even though I want to say it's for the better - things aren't as simple. This morning we did the shopping a little hungover and later in the day because we got a late start (on account of the fact that we went out with our friends who drank us under the table until about 1 a.m.). We were in a bit of a fog and moving slowly, and probably being the exact people that we hate at the store. Of course, in the name of our goal - I didn't particularly care what other people thought, but I was surprised at how noticeable the change in our mindset was. How easily we don't realize where our food comes from. How hard it is to find certain things...
2.) What we wouldn't compromise on: It was particularly difficult to find laundry detergent. Our normal brand is Gain. That seems to be imported from Canada. So is everything from Proctor and Gamble, from the wording on their packaging. Tide pissed me off because the bottle was basically a great big American flag. Also imported from Canada. We ended up with a choice between FAB and Purex. We chose Purex, with fingers crossed. Because the thing is if we mess up our clothes, I'm not sure how we'll buy new ones. More on that later...
3.) What we weren't sure about: Most products say things like Distributed for (INSERT NAME HERE), Cincinnati, OH (or other American city). What does this mean?? We spent rather an inordinate amount of time trying to decipher some of the verbage, including looking it up on the internet via smart phone and using an APP where you can scan the bar code and learn more. A couple times, like with our Taco Bell hard and soft shell taco dinner kit, we had to sort of shrug our shoulders and say "we think so". This isn't exactly in line with our goal, but it definitely taught us we have lots to learn and some product research to do. So it was okay. Brilliant Idea Here: Someone needs to make an App where you can scan the bar code and it just says "Made in America" or "Not".
4.) What we cheated on: Yeah, we cheated. I bought three green bell peppers which were clearly marked "Mexico". There were none, and I mean zilch, from the U.S.A. In fact, there was hardly any produce from the U.S.A. It took several minutes of digging and searching to find U.S.A tomatoes. I couldn't buy raspberries or strawberries or blueberries or bananas. So I caved and bought bell peppers because I need them and because I promised myself that when the farmer's market in town opens again this spring, that I will go there and buy my produce. What is both ironic and highly annoying about this is that we were in HEB, which means nothing to anyone who isn't from Texas, but HEB is BIG on Texas and America and all that jazz, and all their commercials are highly patriotic in terms of "all our stuff comes from America". In fact, they have these really sweet commercials where some farmer is standing in the middle of his crop fields proudly proclaiming "this is the produce department at HEB". Well guess what - it's not. Unless that farmer is the only American in all of Guatemala. Because it seems that most everything in that department is from Guatemala. Disappointing to say the least, particularly because I love those commercials and I love HEB produce even more.
5.) What we just plain didn't buy: We did not buy a digital meat thermometer, which I desperately need because I keep accidentally washing mine and I've gone through like 3 in the past year. I have one of the kind that is not digital and I don't trust it so whenever I use it I end up spending the entire meal worrying about whether or not I am ingesting E Coli. But there were three different kinds in HEB and all were "Fabrique en China". Great.
6.) What we totally nailed: the laundry detergent, eggs, meat, and oranges were all definitely made in U.S.A.
All in all, it was a little frustrating because I suspect that some items are highly misleading on purpose in terms of where they are made. There are probably no real laws about full disclosure regarding product origin or manufacturing when it comes to things like spaghetti sauce or chips or detergent. So when you slap a huge American flag on the front of your packaging, you're telling your consumers that your product is American, and it's pretty sleazy that, in fact, it's not. Regardless, I think overall we were pretty successful for our first shopping experience, with a couple missteps here and there.
Next time we'll probably try to do the shopping on a hangover-free day and see what happens.
Note: The place where said hangover was acquired is a locally owned dive bar where we drank Coors Light all night long. So it's like we were just working on our new goal; so actually we should have been congratulating ourselves this morning on helping to send that guy's kids to college.
No comments:
Post a Comment