There are many sound environmental and economic reasons for buying local goods and services. Although not all labelling is entirely truthful about the origin of parts of the whole, the best you can do it look for the ‘Made in..’ and ensure you’re supporting local industry. This helps the local economy and global environment.
An example of what not to buy (the names have been removed to protect the globalised):
In the local Melkbosstrand Pick n Pay supermarket, they are selling a dried fruit snack whose packaging shouts out it’s USDA certified organic and American heritage. At first glance you’d be forgiven for assuming you were buying a product imported from the USA. However, the product is actually made in China. The packaging would identify the product as for the American market which an enterprising South African has decided we also want in this country.
As the product is certified by the USDA, once can only assume that the fruit is grown in the US (to meet organic guidelines) but exported to China to be processed and then re-imported to the US for sale to the public. Forgetting cost of production, does anyone spot any unnecessary steps?
Thank goodness our locally grown and processed dried fruit is available in our supermarkets. But where do those out of season grapes come from? One wonders….
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