Made in "Your Country Here" ; Is it important to you?

[ShadowHM]

So I'm curious. Does it matter to you where it is made? Especially to those of you who don't live in the US. Does it matter where it is made to you?

I care. It matters to me.

I try to buy 'Made in Canada' where possible. 'Made in the U.S.A.' is second. I am completely willing to pay a premium for this.

I do recognize that I often cannot do this. This is partly because, as Kevin points out, there is no way to know where all the components for something were sourced. Sometimes this makes me re-consider whether I actually need the item. Sometimes I hold my nose and buy it anyway.

I would rather pay extra for locally grown foods, in particular. Paying (to choose an example) for frozen peas that were bagged in Canada but grown in an environment with no rule-set for how much pesticide was used, or how the workers who grew them were treated and then shipped (using another scarce and polluting resource) here across half the world just doesn't work for me anymore. I would rather do without than pay for that, no matter how inexpensive they seem.

In short, I would rather help make sure that the people I know are employed. And I think we all should.