It Comes from Where?

This article comes about from my sitting at home the other night, while drinking some coffee, and deciding to have some canned fruit as a snack. The variety-can of fruit had come from our local super-store, and was of a nice quality.

I turned the can over to view the ingredients (glad that sugar or fructose was not the first listed!), and my eye caught sight of the item’s origins; Marketed by super-store…Product of Thailand.

I was shocked for a moment. Did these fruits even grow in Thailand?! Now, I am a normal American, and know we get our majority of surplus from far overseas…But I was curious–just how many items in my household do NOT come from America, and where are some of the varied places from whence these items do hail?

Well, the kitchen is where I started; some things I was lucky to find were manufactured here in the States–such as many of my teas (the rest of them generally came from England), some mints, my honey, the boxed cereals, the stuff in my fridge, some other canned fruit, etc…

But of course many things were not. This list included:

-A container of chocolate milk mix, which though it was distributed from NC–is a product of Uruguay, which I cannot even find on a map.

-A container of top brand raspberry iced tea mix, distributed from NJ–product of Canada, which I can locate!

-Another large can of tropical flavored fruit in light syrup, which obviously aren’t grown here, but in places like Vietnam, where this selection came from.

…and other things I am sure to find as I go along.

I decided to look around the rest of the house, and see what other items in my home hadn’t come from the USA exclusively, and see where they did come from…

Some of my findings included (but were not limited to):

-Sun tan lotion from Canada

-Calendar from S.Korea

-Digital Camera from Japan

-Stuffed elephant from Bolivia

-Bathroom Towels from India

-Small designer purse from Nepal

-Incense sticks from Thailand

-Packaging tape made in Taiwan

-Catholic wall plaque from Italy

-Towels and washcloths from Pakistan

Many items in my home-as I’m sure is the case in most homes–come from one particular place–China. Some of the things in my home from this giant country?

— Face cleanser, character voice-changer-walkie-talkies, several stuffed animals, a can of strawberries in light syrup (although a can of mixed fruit from the same company came from the U.S.!), gum, picture frames, glue, craft supplies, bowls in my kitchen, makeup, stationary, and etc. and so on!

I guess it just goes to show how culturally diverse our homes are, often without us even realizing it!

Look amongst your own household items–you may be surprised to find out where your possessions come from!