Buy American This Holiday Season!

Last week while doing a backlog of laundry, I engaged in an interesting exercise. Before folding each item of clothing, I checked the tag to see where it had been made. My hypothesis: a lot of "Made in China." Boy, was I ever wrong! Instead, I discovered that most of our clothing was made in places like Madagascar, Peru, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Macau, etc. As I continued checking, I became more desperate to find just one item that had bore Made in the USA. Finally, after checking more than 50 pieces of clothing, I found what I was looking for on my daughter's Camp Kangazoo t-shirt from the Saint Louis Zoo. Not only was it "Crafted with Pride in the USA," I discovered it was made from recycled, eco-friendly materials!

Despite this final flicker of hope, I'm still disappointed to see how few products are made in America. So here's my thought for the day (and for this upcoming holiday season). As we try to crawl our way out of this financial mess, we need more than ever to support local artists, small businesses and entrepreneurs. So consider eschewing the Big Box Marts this year and instead seek out gifts that you know are made here in America. I see it as our patriotic duty! Ellen
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