Down Jacket Search "Continued"

LL Bean, Lands End, Backcountry, Columbia, Sierra Trader, still no luck. Luckily I have a jacket and although not as cute and stylish as I would like it is serviceable ( a word my mother liked to use and I hated when I was a teenager)

Today I got this response from Columbia:

"All of our jackets are manufactured in China and Southeast Asia.Thank you for sharing your concerns about the countries in which Columbia Sportswear products are manufactured. We understand that for some consumers, in addition to fit, performance, style and value, other personal factors also affect their buying decisions. As one of the largest outerwear, sportswear and footwear companies in the world, Columbia Sportswear is part of a global industry that has evolved dramatically over the past 30 years. Part of that evolution has included developing mutually-beneficial relationships with manufacturing partners in over 15 countries, where virtually all of Columbia Sportswear’s products are produced today. These countries have become vital, peaceful trading partners and suppliers of high-quality products for most leading footwear and apparel brands. We are proud of the innovative materials, technologies and construction techniques that we have pioneered with our global manufacturing partners. These relationships make it possible for us to provide consumers in over 100 countries with outstanding performance benefits at competitive prices, to create rewarding career opportunities across our global organization, and to generate value for Columbia Sportswear’s shareholders.

Thank you,
Kristen
Customer Care"

I want a Down Jacket Made in the USA

I've searched online all week and only have found one down jacket MADE IN THE USA and it was for a man at backcountry. I am so sad.

Pig of the Month

I am so excited. While watching Good Morning America (my favorite morning program) they told me about a Ohio based company PigoftheMonth. BBQ is a staple in our house. Usually it is made by my husband but today I couldn't pass the opportunity to try these out.

I've received the confirmation on 2 racks of dry rubbed ribs and a sampler pack of the sites BBQ sauces.

My mouth is watering can't wait to try these out.

Storage Tubs made in the USA

My husband is making a hydroponic basement system and one of the major components of the system is storage tubs. So off we go to Lowe's to find what we needed. We were so happy that the exact style that he wanted was made in the USA to be exact Findley, OH by Centrex Plastics, LLC. I believe we paid $7.99 a piece for these. Our money staying at home and even better in our own region.

Support Your Local Artisans

There is only one thing to say about the Saline Craft Festival, "Off the Hook". Parking was a nightmare and my husband with two bad knees can barely walk today. It was worth the walk and the $3 admission. I only wish we had extra money this paycheck and I would have walked out with my arms full.

What I did purchase was a pendant from "The Cheryl Stephens Studio" for a sweet girl who loves music. There were hundreds of choices : sports, novelty, children and fashion. People where going crazy for them. Who wouldn't they were stylish and affordable and in this day time those are an ideal combination.

Plus it is nice to know that your money is going directly into the hands of a local artisan.

Arts and Craft Fairs

Today we are heading off to Saline, Mi to the Saline Craft Show. According to the billboard on I-94 and the website it was voted top show by Michigan Crafters Magazine.

This is a wonderful opportunity to support local artisans. This is a juried show so I am expecting great things.

Jiffy Mix

Growing up I had an aunt that took care of my sisters and I while mom and dad worked. She loved us like her own and as a kid it was another safe place to go. My mouth still waters over her mash potatoes, buttermilk fudge and when she baked a cake it was always using Jiffy Mix.

As I ventured into my own kitchen, I often picked up the box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix. It is hard for a Southern Girl to admit that she doesn't make it from scratch. Surprisingly I fooled several folks into thinking I made homemade. Not once did I ever look at where the product was made.

Much to my surprise one road trip to Chelsea, Michigan I stumbled across a grain tower with a box of Jiffy Mix painted on the side of it. So began my new love of Jiffy Mix. Who knew they make their own boxes??

Investigating their website I found they even do online ordering.

U.S. Postal Service Decorative Boxes

Way to go US Mail!!

I was just at the post office to mail my two year old niece's birthday present. Being unprepared with packaging I had decided to purchase one of the decorative boxes. As I turned over the box to see where it was made I held my breath.

Guess what? The pretty box and matching mailing label said MADE IN THE USA

So the next time you have to mail a gift and don't have a box or paper just run in your local Post Office and buy a decorative box.

Buy USA for Christmas

This conversation is why we and that includes me do not increase our made in the USA consumption.

Sister 1: I have decided that all the Christmas gifts I purchase will be made in the USA.

Sister 2: What did you get your son?

Sister 1: A Ipad, but everything else will be made in the USA!!

We get our Christmas lists from loved ones and they include specific items. It is hard to substitute an IPad. Since Apple is an American company there is some validity to the purchase.

Shrimp Caught in USA

While traveling through the meat and seafood department I looked over at the seafood. Usually I see the shrimp and it says Taiwan, but today it said Wild caught in the USA. I immediately changed my meal plans for the week and picked up a pound. Can't wait to saute with a little butter and garlic!!!

Starch Made in USA

I have been so disappointed with my purchasing, that I have to breath a sigh of relief when I went to the store to get my favorite starch Niagara non-aerosol spray starch and was relived to find that it was made in the USA!!!

Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)

This explains why many of the canned and packaged goods only print distributed by:
Thank you to the FDA for answering my inquiry. So my conclusion is that for a consumer to be aware of where the canned or processed product were grown we will have to email the customer service departments of distributor. I've done this with Turky Jerky and Old Wisconsin and found that they are American Companies using American product.

"meat and poultry fall under USDA www.usda.gov authority. Foods under FDA authority are not required to have a "country of origin label" (COOL). Finished products made totally over seas, under Customs and Boarder Protection, must show country of origin. If ingredients are shipped to the U.S. to be used in a finished product they are not required to state the COOL."

Consumer Affairs Specialist #3
Communication and Coordination BranchDivision of Education and CommunicationOffice of Food Defense, Communication and Emergency ResponseCenter for Food Safety and Applied NutritionU.S. Food and Drug Administration

Christmas Shoppong Failure

Well one week into my journey and I see that I am horrible at this. I think I am the perfect example of how not to buy Made in the USA.

Today we tackled some of our niece's and nephew's shopping list. So off to Toys R' Us we headed.

$87.91-Toys R' Us-Everything was Made in China, who knew that Barbie Dresses, Baby Doll Clothes and a RC ATV were all made overseas. I am so ashamed and bummed.

$39.74-CVS-Roc Facial Moisture which is made in France (YTD we have a $7 Billion Trade Deficit with France), a couple of Cokes and a prescription refill for which I have no idea where it was made.

$11.74-Taco Bell-

We've got to get better than this.

Trade Partners, Does it make a difference

I have often been accused of viewing things in a simplistic manner. The thought has crossed my mind when shopping for an item like a refrigerator one made in Korea and one made in China which would be better to purchase. In my simple mind I think I should choose the one who trades more equally with the USA.


On this Sunday afternoon when we sit and watch football from 1:00pm until we go to bed I picked up the laptop and tried to find out what countries do we not only import goods but also export goods. I learned from the USA Census Bureau that for the month of August Canada was the country we traded with most (this includes imports and exports) with China coming in second. The entire list can be accessed at the Census Bureau Website.


Because the above list includes both exports and imports I looked a little deeper to find out who we had the largest trade deficit. Meaning who we import more than we export and not to my surprise I found that it was China who was over $150 billion dollars ahead of Japan in the number two spot. (access the full chart at the Census Bureau Website).


Let's look at my example of Korea vs. China. For Korea year to date (YTD)we have about an $8.5 Billion dollar deficit vs. China where we had $189 Billion dollar deficit. Yes we did export about $40 billion dollar more to China than Korea, but the percentages of export vs. import is so distorted that my personal opinion is that we did right by choosing the Korean refrigerator vs. the Chinese refrigerator.


My thought process might not be the same as yours, but at least I am thinking. Many might throw into the equation the countries political make-up, human rights policies, membership in the UN, NATO or participation NAFTA, etc, but I had to find a place to start and this is it. I am sure my thought process will change as I go along, but I know I will be references the Census website again.

Saturday Errands

Day 3: $6 to the State of Michigan, $122.76 to Businesses.

$52.98-Hubby needed a new pair of shoes which seems to come about every three months. Generally he buys the same pair of Docker shoes that he has for about the last 10 years. Well today at Parisian Department Store I was lucky enough to sway him to a new style of Nunn Bush (you are correct in assuming my husband doesn't like to spend $$ on shoes). Upon getting home I see that the shoes were yes MADE IN CHINA. OOOPS

$15.03-Before heading to the theatre we had lunch at Leo's Coney Island at the mall. Leo's has a neat story of entrepreneurship and family. Some of the restaurants, but it was nice to support a locally founded eatery.

$7.75-Off to the matinee we headed at a local AMC theatre (very interesting founded in Kansas City,MO). The movie and soda's were free thanks to My Coke Rewards, but who can go to the theatre without popcorn? Hence the $7.75 for a large popcorn. Did you know that AMC was the first to introduce arm rest cup holders??

$2.50-The hybrid was dirty so off to Waterworks Car Wash (according to yelp and manta it is a privately owned company). The hubby did the washing while I basked in the sunshine!!

$52.98-Dick's Sporting Goods opened a new store and being a sucker for coupons we stopped to look for Brian a air pistol. This was tabled for a Field and Stream (I believe that this Brand is a store private label, but I am trying to confirm.). boot and glove dryer for my dad's Christmas present. We got so caught up in the gift idea and calling my mom to confirm that it would make a GREAT gift we failed to look at the Made in China label. So another OOPS!!

Trying to override the desire for what item is in front of you and trying to replace it with a Made in USA product is going to be hard.

Snack Time

Day 2: $0 to State and $8.37 to Meijer

Not a big day in putting dollars back into the economy.

Snacks are my downfall and after a morning of house cleaning I had to run up to our local Meijer and get a treat for me.

$8.37- Meijer for a couple of Diet Dr. Peppers (hopefully coming from a local distributor) and Old Wisconsin Sausage Snacks ( I became addicted to these in Florida and have searched for them in our area and just stumbled across them). I emailed Wisconsin Sausage Snacks and this is what I found out about their products this makes me like them even better:

"Thank you for your inquiry. Our products are made in Wisconsin and the meats we use are domestic.

Sincerely,
Anne"
Customer Service Manager

Distributed By:

Yesterday I submitted a question regarding Distributed by vs. Made In labeling to the FDA. Let's say they were not as quick as "Perky Jerky" was in their response. So here I sit watching the inbox.

Why am I obsessed about the "Distributed by" labeling? I understand that "distributed by" is used because many food companies purchase private label items from a specific manufacturer. So say Target, Meijer, Walmart might not manufacture the bag of potato chips they contract out to another company to make them. Doing this is probably sound business practice, but as a consumer I would still like to know where the product is MADE or at mininum that it is an American company producing the item.

In the short time that my family has been paying more attention to labels it has become very evident that many of the canned and processed foods do not tell consumers where the item was made or what country the produce or meat. Do we assume made in or product of USA if it doesn't tell us different? This seems very naive in today's environment.

From Sales Tax to Faxing

Day 1: $293.75 ($185.63 to the state (sales tax and auto registration) $108.12 for products are services)

$185- State -tags this one is a no brainer considering it is state law for a resident to register their vehicles. So I feel very confident that the funds are going to our state. If only I was as confident that the funds would go to repair the awful roads.
$ 4.78 -Kmart-Diet Dr. Pepper (which also included a bottle deposit another income source for the state), Hickory Farm sausage snacks: Hickory Farms is headquartered in Ohio making it an American company, but as I look at my sausage package I don’t see a Product of or Made in label. There is a US inspected label so I am unsure if it is an American Made product.
$ 48.57 -GNC-Vitamins & Perky Turkey Jerky: What confuses me is that in both the vitamins and jerky the packaging says distributed by, but does not have a Product of or Made in info. Again like the Hickory Farm sausages this leaves me wondering where the product was made and using ingredients from where. I just sent an email to Performance Enhancing Meat Snacks, Inc. in Colorado to see if they can answer the question for us. Wow within 3 minutes I got a response which is below:

“Thank you for the note! Yes our jerky is a product of the USA. Our meat is domestic and the jerky itself is "cooked" in Salt Lake City, UT.

Perkiest regards! “

$ 11.18- Hallmark Cards: I have always loved Hallmark stores. Full disclosure I am a Gold Crown Member and love the fact that many of the stores are independently owned. My dream at one point was to have my own Hallmark store. The Worldwide corporate headquarters is in Kansas City, Mo. The three cards I purchased were all made in the USA.
$8.72-Belleville Cleaners- From what I can find out on a quick internet research this is a locally owned dry cleaner
$35.00-Gardener’s Choice- A local landscaping company that I had driven by this for days when I called them to do our sprinkler winter blow out.
.50- UPS Store-Fax-This is a franchise store, but I am unsure if it is a sole local owner or like so many franchises this day bought by a corporation who owns many stores.
So that is that for Day 1 I have emailed the FDA regarding the distributed by labeling on food products to get a clear understanding of why there is no country of origin on the label. They unlike Perky Jerky were not as quick to respond. So I can not report it in this post.

Buy USA (Yes, No, Maybe)

My husband and I have spouted the need to buy American and at times we have, but l feel like most Americans when it comes to sacrificying price or the desire for a certain item we have always been able to justify buying what we wanted over buying USA.

If by chance anyone reads my blog let it be known I am doing this to help educate myself more than anything on how my household is spending its money, what kind of companies am I supporting and where the products are made that I am purchasing.