Nowadays, I don't take anything for granted....
I check closely my fruits and vegetables...(Publix is selling limes from Mexico...what!...the USA doesn't have any limes????)
...so I won't buy them.
Yes, I know bananas & some items are from other places....but I try to buy local fruit from farms in Florida....
..although of course, greens from California, apples from Pennsyvania are great!..
... bad enough that we have to check produce, but now we have to check our cookies & canned goods too!!!
And don't think your voice doesn't count!!
I started questioning my local Publix supermarket, when, a couple years ago, they identified/stamped their beef and other items as.....made in USA and/or Mexico.
I went to the manager of the store and expressed my disbelief that our huge country couldn't produce beef for our consumption.
I said this rather loudly....and he called in other managers and I repeated what I'd told him.
They gave me some lame excuse.....really lame....
..and I stopped buying their product.
A friend of mine complained as well....and obviously more people started complaining....
Turns out there was a 'law' that finally saw the light of day, and stores had to identify where their products were manufactured.
Who knows how long our store sold the foreign beef before this law came into effect.
The folks trying to pass this law worked diligently .....so that small farms (like the tomato farms in Florida a couple years ago) wouldn't get blamed & lose millions of dollars when their tomatoes were targeted as an outbreak of disease....(when in reality it was Mexico)
This law is the Proof of Origin Law...and my understanding is it took YEARS for the powers to be to recognize & pass it.
Many people worked long & hard for us to know where our items we consume are from.
As far as my local supermarket is concerned......they lost business and folks stopped buying their Mexican beef....
..now the items are stamped ....made in the USA
So buy USA!