I didn't forget about your question Maven.  I've been trying to think of the way best to do this.  I've also been making a point to see what I could find that was made in the US...or more to the point...made in a foreign country for no other reason than cheap labor.

I recently bought, and was given, some various pans for out kitchen.  I was surprised, although I'm not quite sure why, to find that the Chantal, Kithenaid and Cuisinart items were all made in China. 

My 6 year old turned 6 last Saturday and whenever I was shopping for him I don't think I saw one thing that a typical 6 year old would want (not that he's typical lol ) that was made in the US.  Wait, there was a craft book I found on Pirates that was printed in the US but I'd need to check to make sure.

I'm still not sure hoe best to tackle this.  I think a grass roots movement is much better than gointg through a politician.  I think an awareness week could start with a "shopping list" of items most people have in their home ...from groceries to clothing to cleaning supplies and whatever else...and ask them to fill in the country of origin.  Or maybe we can give them a list of where most of the items are made.

I know...take photographs of the shelves at Walmart and a major super market and then mark up the images with little flags showing where each item is made.

If this is done properly I think it would get quite a bit of notice.  One thing I would want to make clear that it is not just that it is made outside the US...but that it is made outside the US because of cheaper labor.

so...whaddya think?

I agree with ever word you wrote. I wonder how those 'awareness' days/weeks start? In Congress? Just word of mouth??

A friend of my husband's decided to buy only American-made clothing. It took him several months to find blue jeans. He said he only found one: Lucky Brand.

Maybe a good way to start would be a "Made in America" awareness week.  Have everyone take an extra moment to read the "made in" label on all the products they buy to see just what is made here and what is not.

I was going to buy some generic sidewalk chalk for the kids to use on our driveway 2 weeks ago but stopped when I saw it was made in China.  I was concerned about chemicals they might use in the coloring.  Maybe it's paranoia brought on by the news media but I don't care.

So this past weekend my wife bought jumbo Crayola sidewalk chalk.  The Crayola factory is in Easton Pennsylvania, about an hour and a half from us.  Schools all around here regularly take tours of their factory.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the new boxes of chalk only to see "Made in China" on the side.  ?!?!

Anyway that's what brought on the thought for the awareness week.  Maybe if people realized just how much they were buying that was made in country's with cheap labor and little or not safety and quality control they might be shocked in to reading the labels and buying alternative brands.

Don't get me wrong about buying things made outside the US.  There are plenty of products that I buy that are made around the world that I feel are of very good quality.  These are itmes that I choose because of their quality and not price alone.  Things like Olive Oil, most any spice, teas and coffee.  Even the frozen green beans I buy at Trader Joe's come from France and they taste as good as the ones my family grew and froze years back.

I'm not sure we could get people to buy US products only.  Some incomes do not give people the choice of what they buy.  But I think making a conscious effort and limiting how much you buy that is made outside the USA, buying for the combined reasons of quality and price, and not price alone, might be a good and simple start.

I'd like to propose a National Buy American Week or maybe Month. Wouldn't that be an interesting experiment?

We're already doing some home improvements...refinishing our basement, part 2 of a retaining wall and I'm looking to do a river bed type thingy out back to catch run off rain water and for the kids to play in.  So Instead we're going to use our government kickback to help fund a week long vacation to Cape May.  We've alrady rented a house!  Yippee!!!

I'm not sure how much stimulation will be achieved by me doing the home improvements myself though.  I just installed the Halo lights last week and I found a tag saying they were "assembled in Mexico" which means to me that they were made somewhere far far away if Mexico was as close as they could get to "Made in the USA".  Well the top soil and mulch I need will be locally made atleast.