Distr., Manufactured and Available

Carting around what's probably not made in the U.S.

Our quest to purchase goods made only in the United States was challenged when we went grocery shopping. We do most of our produce shopping at our local farmer's market, so we were able to float by for a bit.

I'm not an overzealous label reader in general, but I guarantee you, I checked and double checked every item in our cart. It was easier than I imagined, since most of the items I needed were paper goods, and yeah, it seemed intuitive living in the Pacific Northwest that facial tissue, napkins and paper towels would be resources I wouldn't have trouble sourcing locally. But I was pleasantly surprised that rice milk, soy-gurt, throat-coat tea and grass seed (?!) were all distributed from companies here. The unpleasant part came when I saw the number of times the words "manufactured," "distributed by" and "manufactured for distribution by" appeared. I felt giddy to know that Genisoy is based in Tulsa, Okla. (my hubby's former stomping grounds), but left the store feeling unsteady and unsure that the products, though at the very least probably not sourced from U.S.-grown soybeans, was probably not made in Tulsa, either. It's frustrating.

When I got home I compared my cart's labels with one in my pantry: Nutella The first time I tried Nutella was while traveling overseas, and I was thrilled when I found it in a specialty grocery store a few years after. I was very certain it was not made in the U.S. My jar of Nutella says clearly, "Made in Canada" on the label. Not once during my shopping trip did I see a label as clear as that stating, "Made in the U.S.A." I feel that, despite some effort, I've failed.

There are many resources for products made here, especially online.  Here are a few I found:

- Still Made in USA
- Americans Working
- Made in USA Forever

But it's going to take me a long time to sort through these sites to figure it out. Food seems relatively easy, though it might be more about changing what we eat. If I go back to the rice milk or soy products I enjoy more than dairy, that's automatically more difficult to obtain locally. Our farmer's market has no end to milk and cheese - unpasteurized milk at that. But soy products? I'll see where my research takes me and keep you all posted. If only there were and etsy-style grocery store. 

Another issue that came up this week is my dying cell phone. I have an original iPhone 2, which has been fine for me, given that I use few of the online/app bells and whistles. I figure if the phone part of it still works, then I'm using a phone as a phone. I also text. But this week I could only hear calls if I had the speaker option on. I've been working around it, and maybe even found a solution, but that's another mystery to deal with. It will take much more than research to find a cell phone made entirely in the United States.