Gasoline is a problem

Part of the purpose of this blog is to explore whether it is possible for a family to live off of American made products.  The truth is that getting around in many cities in the US is a problem.  Cars specifically.  In Miami, where I live, you have to have a car to get anywhere in any reasonable amount of time.  When I first moved here I took public transportation but it would take a minimum of an hour to get anywhere within a 5 mile radius.  I could have probably run there in the same amount of time.  The issue with cars for the purposes of this blog is gasoline. Where does it come from.  In 2009, US consumed 18.8 million barrels per day of petroleum products, making it the world's largest petroleum consumer. Although the US is the third largest crude oil producer, about half of the petroleum used here is imported. Gasoline comes from crude oil.

The problem is you can’t tell at any gas station where the gasoline was refined or where the crude came from.  In fact just because you buy gasoline at a Chevron, doesn’t mean Chevron refined it.  That’s because gasoline from different refineries is usually combined for shipment by pipeline, and companies owning service stations in the same area may be purchasing gasoline at the same bulk terminal. Of course you may wonder about all the commercials for one gasoline being better than another and it is true that some companies may add additives to the gasoline before it gets to the pump (whether they are effective or not is another matter entirely).  With regard to the source of the crude, that can vary a lot and depends on cost and availability.  Usually they come from a variety of domestic and foreign sources. 

So if you have a car that relies on gasoline you cannot live on all American made products.  Gasoline it seems will have to be an exception. 

Healthy makes it happen?

It turns out that food labels are tricky to decipher.  I’m still working on it.  However, a stroll through the shampoo, conditioner and general styling products will leave you in awe.  So very many products made in the US.  Many also made in other parts of the world but it is amazing how clearly they are labeled – in contrast to food products. You may not be able to drive anywhere (since it is impossible to tell the source of gasoline from any given gas station) but you can have fabulous made in the USA hair.  Hair dryers and other stylling electronics are another matter altogether though… 

Now I know why clothes say where they are made…

The Federal and Trade Commission regulates some of the labeling.  Actually they are pretty specific – they focus on textile, wool and automobiles.  The FTC website says “Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and Wool Products Labeling Act — Require a Made in USA label on most clothing and other textile or wool household products if the final product is manufactured in the U.S. of fabric that is manufactured in the U.S., regardless of where materials earlier in the manufacturing process (for example, the yarn and fiber) came from. Textile products that are imported must be labeled as required by the Customs Service. A textile or wool product partially manufactured in the U.S. and partially manufactured in another country must be labeled to show both foreign and domestic processing.

So that covers our clothes and wooly bits.  What about shoes? What about food? Beuty products? The list goes on and on…

How do you know if it’s made in the USA?

If you walk into the grocery store and go to the produce section you will probably notice the origin of fruits and veggies on or close to those items. Walk down and few isles over or look at your grocery’s and kitchen cabinets – like I did - and it turns out that it’s not that easy to know if something is made in the USA.  I have found several options:

“Made in”

“Product of”

“Produced in”

“Manufactured in”

Then more obscure descriptions:

“Distributed by” followed by a US address) – I always thought this was for imported goods, like wine, but Kraft cheese had it on shredded cheese – is it possible that Kraft shredded cheese is not made in the US?

So what are the differences?  I don’t know yet, but I will find out. Like all things there is probably some specific legal description for each.  

Living within boundaries?

Over the last couple of weeks I have become curious about whether my family and I could live off of American made products only.  With globalization and the American hunger for cheap goods, much of what I and the rest of the U.S own isn’t made here.  This isn’t a patriotic driven interest, as I am not an American citizen.  It isn’t an anti-globalization cry either - arguably, Panama, my country of origin has been part of enabling the global transport of goods (thanks in no small part to the US) and has benefited greatly from it (maybe).         

This blog is really a learning experience and experiment.   There is a bit of a sustainability angle to it as well.  I live here; therefore it seems reasonable to support the local economy and goods produced here.  If the US were not such a large country there could probably be additional reduction of environmental impacts to be gained, such as reduction in transportation impacts.  However, I live in Miami, so perhaps the transportation impact from grapes from Chile vs. California is mute (I will have to explore that further).  From a sustainability angle it would probably make more sense to draw a 100 mile radius around me.  Plenty of people are trying to do just that but mainly focused on food, which is impressive and commendable.  However, I would like to look beyond food and frankly not a whole lot is made in Florida that is not entertainment related.  So the learning adventure begins – What is made in US?