Here are a few of the things that I have noticed over recent months.
- All tinned tuna (all brands) in my local independent grocer store come from Thailand and many don't tell you what type of tuna it is (that is, is it threatened blue fin or a bit better yellow fin)
- All but one brand of frozen vegetables (mixed variety) in my local store come from China and the one that doesn't comes from New Zealand
- All the clothes that I have looked at in main stream stores come from China, no matter what price range I looked at
- The moisturiser I use (one based on nasty petrochemicals and probably tested on animals) is made in Thailand
- Many of the main stream brands of tampons seem to be made in some part of Europe, with the ones I have looked at made in Germany or Slovenia
- Many manufactured products which are 'made in Australia' say they are made from local and imported ingredients. The label then denies you information about which ingredients or proportion of ingredients come from which country.
- Much of the bulk-provided organic food (ie non-local markets) comes from wide and far in Australia, with many of my local producers potentially using traditional, chemically enhanced agricultural methods.
I have found this a fascinating journey to discover where things are produced, certainly with my attempt to buy food from within 250km of my household. But the one thing that has been considerably absent is the amount of information on packaging, which makes it really difficult to make informed choices about your food your buying and available in the mainstream and market-dominating shops.
Next time you're at the shops, maybe take a look to see where the things you're buying come from. Might make you think about all sorts of things rather than just what colour it is or how cheap it is. Maybe you could even drop me a comment and let me know what thoughts were stirred up by this exercise. Pin It
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