Buying local made and or owned products.

[pulsatron]

I have just been browsing through a copy of an Ausbuy guide which is a little booklet which tells we Aussies which products are made by Australian owned companies.
It showed me a website for an online grocery company who only sell locallly made and owned goods(or at least owned locally as much as possible),I found it surprising as in some items there is still a fair few products done by local companies and other products are pretty scarce.
I would be curious to know when our friends on here do their grocery shopping and I guess any other products as well does everyone try to source from their local companies or seeing as though we are supposed to be living in a global environment is it not really a big deal.
The other side to buying local I dare say, is that while multinationals may be global in outlook,they do actually employ locals to work in their factories and offices.
Indeed, my neighbour's wife is employed by Colgate-Palmolive and so if Australians were to stop buying C.P.'s products, she would be out of work.
I would be interested in other views on this topic.
Many Thanks people.
Steve.

 

[sudsmaster]

It is becoming increasingly difficult to buy "American-made only" products here in the USA. So much of our electronics and other gadgets are now made in Asia, especially China. Food is easier, since the US is a net exporter of food, but still in the winter it is not unusual to see the produce shelves stocked with foods grown in Central and South America.

I am not sure where all this is headed... some say the global economy is in the long term a good thing, and eventually things will settle out. Right now though the USA has a huge trade deficit, and China's government controlled bank holds most of our debt. Kind of scary, in a way.

One way to "buy local" is to pick up used items for low cost or even free. Various internet ad services, like Craig's List, make this relatively easy. It also helps prevent things from going to the crusher before their time.