Fun Friday: Where Do Items For Your Home & Home Business Come From?
Here at the b5media Business Channel, we’re having a Fun Friday post consisting of a listing of where various products used in our home and business come from.
On some business and financial blogs, there has been chatter implying the US economy would be better off if residents purchased products made in this country.
So….bloggers here are checking around their homes and businesses to determine where the items they use/eat/buy come from.
Food – Most fresh produce somes from the US. However, often some fruits (especially exotic ones) and vegetables come from foreign countries. It’s amazing that they can keep so well when shipped so far.
Clothing – It appears that more and more clothing one buys says “Made in ….a foreign country.” If you purchase handmade clothing from US crafters, would it still contain foreign fabric or embellishments?
Furniture, electronics, kitchen utensils….where do yours come from?
Autos, parts, and other machinery – do you know where yours is made?Do other countries feel this way about US goods coming into their countries? Do they try to purchase items made by individuals and companies that reside there?
Perhaps this means there may be a larger market for home crafted items…those made by individuals and small businesses in this country and others…if consumers are looking to purchase those made at home.
It would be interesting to see what you think.
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
5 Comments
[...] Where do items for your home business come from? [...]
While we like to support local where at all possible, often labels can be misleading too. Sometimes cost and availability comes into it too.
Yvonne, it was interesting to read some of the other posts written for Fun Friday in the Business Channel and the comments made there. They agreed with your points. Also, with today’s increased prices, it’s often difficult to pay for higher priced necessities that are made in one’s country if those that fit the budget are foreign made.
Labels, too, may indicate the items are assembled in one’s country. However, the components could be made elsewhere. Also, locally made items might use materials from other countries.
There appears to be no extremely simple answer. We do appear to be “global” whether we want it or not.
There may be some truth in “buy America” but our economy (dollar vrs euro) is such that now some countries are out sourcing to USA. A lot of foriegn cars are built here using USA workers. Some companies are pulling their call centers back. Unfortunately we live in a global economy making it almost impossible to buy only American.
[...] mirrors my thoughts on shopping locally. Mary Emma Allen asked Home Biz Notes readers the question Where Do Items For Your Home & Home Business Come From? and challenged us to [...]