Day 8 - 7/8 - COOL to be kind

I was off to work today so that left husband home with the girls. Not horrible considering they were out of his hair for 3 hours at camp. Before I left I said "keep on task". Translation - I know you are taking them out today without me - do not buy anything not made in America! PS - He survived - barely - coming home from Toys R Us with a gift certificate, a Just Dance Wii game and a snorkel. The girls did great and checked every label, I was so proud of them!! To make it out of that store with items from America was a feat! My husband deserves a medal.

So after work I had to go to the food store, my first big shopping since we started this. No problem, I had my list and time to check my labels.  What I purchased:

Plums, Apricots, Lemons, Cilantro, Watermelon, Cherries, Chicken and steak all made in USA

Salad from Salinas, CA
Sour Cream from Northfield, IL
Tortilla Chips & Tortillas from Irving, TX
Homemade Bread - from WH, NY

What I could not purchase that I really wanted to:

Limes & Avocados - Mexico (can you tell I'm dying to make guacamole??)
Coconuts - I forgot where but not from here
The tortillas I really wanted were from Mexico so I got another brand.

The awesome thing was I was in and out in less than 1/2 hour. Why is that you ask? Because of something called COOL. If you haven't heard about this it stands for Country of Origin Label. From the USDA site... http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/COOL

Country of Origin Labeling

4040 plums are the best ones! Check out their COOL label, it says USA. Make sure your plums have spots, they are the sweetest, I learned that from my dad! "Country of Origin Labeling is a labeling law that requires retailers, such as full-line grocery stores, supermarkets, and club warehouse stores, notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods. Food products, (covered commodities) contained in the law include muscle cut and ground meats: beef, veal, pork, lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts; and ginseng. Regulations for fish and shellfish covered commodities (7 CFR Part 60) became effective in 2005. The final rule for all covered commodities (7 CFR Part 60 and Part 65) went into effect on March 16, 2009. AMS is responsible for administration and enforcement of COOL."

In short, all fruits, vegetables and meats must be labeled with the country it was grown in. How awesome is this! You thought they were being nice but they have to do this. I understand there are some items that we cannot grow here - tune in tomorrow for the banana story.....but if you can buy your veggies and fruits here and they are now clearly marked - why not? If you have a choice, chose USA products! Now maybe we can talk clothing vendors to do the same? Hmm, I feel another email coming on....

Until tomorrow, still waiting to hear back from Mandees, it was a nice letter, I wonder what the hold up is???