Boycott "Made in China"

Recently I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't buy any products made in China for 30 days. During my boycott, I was forced to give thought to the products I purchased which is more than I can say before I began this interesting little journey. I suddenly became more label conscious, and was surprised at the magnitude of products made in China. I sometimes laughed at the irony of some products that I found were MIC, like American flags. I also learned that some companies can be very deceiving. For instance, I saw a product that had "Made in USA" written on the box, and in fine print it said "Product made in China" Apparently the BOX was made in the USA. They are trying to trick consumers!

When I did my food shopping I didn't even consider checking the items I was buying to see if they were made in China. I ASSumed that America surely wouldn't allow China to get their hands in on our food supply. Ha! I was wrong. But, as it turns out, reading the label probably wouldn't have helped me much anyway. The United States requires labels on seafood to mark where it came from, however, that's the exception. With most foods, companies are not required to label where ingredients come from, only where the food was packaged or processed.

So the frozen pizza you bought could have 20 ingredients in it from 20 different countries, and all the consumers knows was that it was packaged in Glendale, New York.

So, how are you supposed to boycott food products made in China?

You can't!

Buying locally and avoiding prepacked foods is your best bet to keep products MIC out of your kitchen cupboards. There are some products that are more likely to be made in China and they include:

Apple Juice (who woulda thought?)

Mandarin Oranges

Candy

Dried Garlic

Cocoa Butter

Sausage Casings

Dried Berries (like those found in breakfast cereal)

Another thing..

Independence Day is coming up, and ironically thousands of Americans will celebrate our Independence by purchasing fireworks that were made in China. These fireworks were manufactured in many cases with forced labor, even child labor, under the most unsafe and inhumane conditions.

Annual sales in the U.S. are approaching $1 billion. Yep, that's right- A BILLION!

So, when you buy fireworks made in China, you are helping China rake in millions on the backs of slave laborers, political prisoners and badly exploited peasants – people who have no choice, no freedom, no independence, no say.

Talk about irony.

Needless to say, we won't be purchasing fireworks this year.

I have decided to continue my Made in China boycott indefinitely. I want to send a message to the American companies that it is morally wrong to get rich off the suffering of so many people. I want them to stop putting our children, our pets, our elderly... all humans at risk to save a few dollars.

Maybe my voice won't make a difference, but I will sleep well at night knowing I did my part.