BOYCOTT HEINZ!

March 14, 2003 | Tooters

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

I was forwarded this artical, but was not given a link or any other information. I hate to post stuff without a link, but this is all I have to offer right now.

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Sen. John Kerry is fond of calling CEOs who employ foreigners "Benedict Arnolds," after the despicable Revolutionary War turncoat.

But look at H.J. Heinz & Co., the family business of Kerry and his wife Teresa. Of the 79 factories that the food-processor owns, 57 (a felicitous number!) are overseas. According to its Web site, Heinz is making ketchup, pizza crust, baby cereal and other edibles in such countries as Poland, Venezuela, Botswana, China, Thailand and India.


Put hypocrisy aside. The traitors to American interests aren't CEOs seeking to boost profits that ultimately lead to more hiring at home. The real Benedict Arnolds are Kerry and his colleagues in Congress, such as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Jon Corzine, D-N.J., who understand enough economics to know that outsourcing is trade and that trade -- as David Ricardo figured out 200 years ago and as Hillary's husband articulated in the 1990s -- benefits both parties.

Imagine if U.S. computer companies were forced to make all their components at home. The cost of computers would be higher, so U.S. business could not enhance productivity, grow and hire workers. Plus, U.S. computer makers would be priced out of the market and forced to fire workers.

So far, legislation backed by Clinton, Corzine and the rest has been fairly benign. But they have fanned the flames of protectionist anger, and the fire is raging out of control. One result could be a reversal of the global movement toward open trade, which has been a boon to America.

This is a good time to remember the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Act, which touched off a tariff war that cut global trade by more than two- thirds in five years. Smoot-Hawley, in the view of many economists, intensified and prolonged -- and perhaps even caused -- the Great Depression.

But there's a more immediate way that the outsourcing hysteria hurts American interests: It is antagonizing India, one of our most important allies.

Indians are angry and bewildered by what's happening here. India had been the world's most prominent example of autarky, a backward policy of protectionism. Partly because of pressure from the United States -- and partly from observing the economic success of smaller countries such as Singapore and South Korea -- India has eased that policy in recent years.

Imports and exports have soared, and India's growth rate has doubled to 8 percent. The world's largest democracy, with a population of 1 billion, is getting more prosperous, creating what could ultimately become the best market in the world for American goods and services.

Meanwhile, India has been critical to American foreign policy. The war against terror forced us to lavish aid on India's archrival, Pakistan, and a nuclear war between the two countries over disputed Kashmir seemed possible. But peace is now closer, and despite provocations, India has proven a steadfast ally.

Now, many Indians feel they are the scapegoats for America's cyclical economic downturn in what they see as a racist campaign. Isn't this the way trade works? "On the one hand you talk about opening up our markets. On the other, you want to ban ... outsourcing," said India's deputy prime minister.

In fact, the business processes (or BP) work that Indians do for companies worldwide is a "good thing," as Gregory Mankiw, head of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, had the temerity to say, like the little boy who couldn't help but speak the truth while his elders were telling lies. ("This simple restatement of the logic of liberal trade brought derision down on Mankiw's head," wrote The Economist. And from, among others, Corzine, the former CEO of Goldman, Sachs!)

As the BP sector waxes, India becomes a bigger market for "Dell personal computers, Cisco switches and Avaya telecommunications equipment," writes Rafiq Dossani of Stanford in Outlook, an Indian magazine.

It would be understandable if the Indians threw up their hands and said: "Fine! We're going back to our mercantilist ways, and forget about cooperating on foreign policy."

Yes, trade does cause some hardship, which the United States must address through job retraining and aid for displaced workers. But constraints on trade cause much more pain, threatening to poison our relations with key allies and plunge the world into another depression. That is no exaggeration.

Patricia Hewitt, the British trade secretary, recently accused U.S. politicians of "playing politics with people's jobs and prosperity." It's worse. At a time when leaders should be educating Americans about the benefits of trade, Kerry, Clinton and the others are putting America in peril.

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

"I would like to see a reporter question him on the overseas factories too. I don't think it will ever happen though. Of course if it did he would go ballistic and say "How dare you question me, I am a war hero".

LOL you are so right! What a brat!!! waaaa waaaa

[danamco]

I NEED to eat Heinz ketchup. I ain't eating that crappy Hunt's tomato water.
Everything else, I don't mind skipping. But I NEED Heinz ketchup.



Buy Del Monte or other store brand, it's all the same ingredients!

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Classico, didn't know that. Gone.

[FormerLib]

Actually, I really don't like ketchup anyway.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Roger Daltrey of The Who needs to be contacted.

Odorono, here being used by Pete Townshend, is not a Heinz product.

[hattend]

Actually, I was talking somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

About the only food product I actually do boycott is Tyson Chicken...for obvious reasons.

But I will try some of the recipes I found on this thread. After all, it's only catsup/ketchup :-)

[toupsie]

My new brand...

[Rutabega]

Thanks! I'll try that recipe!

[JohnBDay]

How does this make us any different from liberals who refuse to eat Domino's Pizza because of Tom Monaghan?

[Coleus]

Heinz boycott ping.

[HungarianGypsy]

The multi-colored catsup also had an odd taste. But, yes, the catsup that fell on my table and made an odd stain got me to throw out the whole bottle. If it did that to the table, what would it do to the inside of my family's bodies. Yuck!

[Fawnn]

Please forgive me for not taking the time to do fancy formatting.

Here's the ketchup recipe that will be in my next cookbook, "The Everything Low-Salt Cookbook":

Easy Homemade Ketchup
Serves 32
Per serving:
Calories: 17.76
Protein: 0.12 g
Carbohydrates: 4.43 g
Total Fat: 0.01 g
Sat. Fat: 0.00 g
Cholesterol: 0.00 mg
Sodium: 24.74 mg
Fiber: 0.24 g

1 (15-ounce) can Muir Glen Organic No-Salt-Added Tomato Sauce
2 teaspoons water
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar***
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch ground allspice
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch freshly ground pepper
2/3 teaspoon sweet paprika

1. Add all the ingredients except the paprika to a nonstick saucepan. Simmer over low heat for 15 to 30 minutes, until the mixture reduces to desired consistency.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the paprika. Allow the mixture to cool, then put it in a covered container (such as a recycled ketchup bottle). Store in the refrigerated until needed.

***I use Bragg Organic Cider Vinegar; it has a much better taste than Heinze vinegar! (www.bragg.com)

[SIDEBAR SUGGESTION]
Zesty Ketchup
If you like ketchup with a kick, you have several ways you can spice up Easy Homemade Ketchup. You can add crushed red peppers, Mrs. Dash Extra-Spicy Seasoning Blend, or salt-free chili powder along with, or instead of, the cinnamon and other seasonings. Another alternative is to use hot paprika rather than sweet paprika.


NOTES:

I have a different spice blend that I prefer. Someday™ I'll get that version on CookingWithPam.com; I'll try to remember to let you know when I do.

This does make a sweet ketchup. Anyone on low carb can substitute granular Whey Low™ or Whey Low™ Gold (www.wheylow.com), which has 1 g net carb per teaspoon (the same as :::yucko, imo::: Splenda).

For sweetness similar to that of World's Real Ketchup, only use 2 tablespoons of sugar (for 1 g carb per serving) instead of the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe; if you use 2 tablespoons of Whey Low™ instead of sugar, there'll only be a trace of carb per serving.

If you prefer a saltier taste, you can increase the amount of sea salt used in the recipe. Another alternative is to add a little lemon juice and some mustard powder.

[Adam36]

I dont think a boycott will work. Heinz controls like 95 percent of the Ketchup market. There the Microsoft of Ketchup. lol.

[Adam36]

Holy, you see how educated these Kerry Kids are. 2 went to Harvard, 1 went to Brown, the other went to Georgetown. Then again, Bill Gates dropped out of college in his first year. I wonder if the 2 kids that are John Heinz sons.
I wonder if there conservative. John Heinz was a stauch conservative. John Heinz 1V, the one son thats not involved in the campaign, maybe he's a conservative.

[mel]

ok, I am really not that crazy about Hunt's ketchup, but by golly I will use it after listening to this looney toon Heinz heir

[hope]

No problem for us...My family has boycotted that high carb junk for a while now.

[mombonn]

From this website http://www.nyse.com/listed/dlm.html. Sorry, I forgot how to create link.

Del Monte Foods Company produces, distributes and markets branded and private label food and pet products for the United States retail market. The Company's food brands include Del Monte, StarKist, Contadina, S&W, College Inn and other brand names, and its pet food and pet snacks brands include 9Lives, Kibbles 'n Bits, Pup-Peroni and Pounce. The Company's businesses are aggregated into three reportable segments: Consumer Products, Pet Products and Soup and Infant Feeding Products. The Consumer Products segment includes branded shelf-stable seafood, fruit, vegetable and tomato products. The Pet Products segment includes dry and wet pet food, pet snacks and veterinary products. The Soup and Infant Feeding Products segment includes soup, broth, infant feeding and pureed products. The Company was formed in December 2002 via the spin-off of SKF Foods from H.J. Heinz Co. and its subsequent merger with Del Monte Foods Company.

From the DelMonte website, http://www.delmonte.com/company/AboutUs/Profile.asp

Late in 2002, the Company completed its largest ever transaction by acquiring the U.S. StarKist seafood, North American pet food and pet snacks, U.S. infant feeding, College Inn broth and U.S. private label soup businesses from the H. J. Heinz Company. Merging these businesses into the Company more than doubled its size and elevated its preeminence in the food and pet products business. Over 75% of Del Monte's North American revenues are branded--two-thirds of which are number one brands.

That I can see, you're ok with their ketchup.

[Guvmint_Cheese]

Ooh, the wife's not going to be thrilled to give up her 1-point Weight Watchers Chocolate Pops.

[Nick Danger]

I don't see why I should have to suport one certian brand over anouther.

Neither do I, which is why I have not started any threads about how people should go buy Heinz products.

I don't care whether people buy them or not. What I care about is people coming onto Free Republic to urge their fellow Freepers to boycott a company, when they have not even bothered to find out whether that company has anything to do with the object of their wrath, which is Mrs. John Kerry.

It sounds reasonable that they might be connected, given that both have the same name, but it turns out to be false. Which means that the people advocating this boycott did not do their homework before posting this nonsense. They just shot their mouths off without knowing what they were talking about. I'm sorry, but I don't find that amusing. It makes Free Republic look like a bunch of idiots, which I care a whole lot about.

Let's be clear that I do not claim to have investigated every angle of this, but I can't find any connection. I've looked at their officers and directors, their annual report, their 10-K, the list of their 5%-and-up shareholders, and their insider transactions. She simply is not there; nor are any of her foundations. Meanwhile, no one advocating this boycott has presented any evidence at all that the H. J. Heinz company funds this woman, or any of her foundations, or even has anything to do with her.

If such evidence turns up, I'm prepared to be wrong. But so far I haven't seen anything that suggests that this isn't just ignorance marching on, under color of Free Republic. We should have higher standards than that.