Is It Racist To Want...

[Parrothead]

Okay, maybe racist isn't the word I'm going for here. I'm not sure what the term might be...but I want to be able to buy food that is raised/grown right here in my own darned country. Is that too much to ask?

I've ranted about this before, I am sure. At least, about my beef with Randall's as we once knew it going out the window.

My problem now seems to be that everywhere I shop--be it Randall's, Kroger, HEB, or WalMart (and I frequent all of them) all I can find is produce from other countries. Lettuce from Mexico. Asparagus from Peru. Apples from California. Oh wait....well, close enough

I was at Randall's today, the Flagship Randall's on Memorial, when I found that they didn't have ONE piece of fish that wasn't from a foreign country. Not just any foreign country, either--CHINA. That's right, folks, your fish is from China, at least it is if you buy it from Randall's. It's on a teeeeeeensy weensy little sign that the fish sit on. The shrimp were all from Indonesia. HELLO--we live right on the gulf, with the best shrimp in the world, no doubt--and our local grocer (well, as local as Safeway can be) gets their shrimp from INDONESIA. Wow. Was it any cheaper? Nope. Not at all. At HEB, I found out that the whitefish I bought was called Basa and was farm-raised in Vietnam. OH GOODY. Glad we're helping everyone else out and not our own farmers, you know like maybe in LOUISIANA or MISSISSIPPI? *sigh*

Be aware, friends...be very aware... and ask where it's from and WHY DO THEY BUY IT? I get a bunch of shrugged shoulders from employees...nobody seems to care. I get a little nervous when I can't get a local snapper, ya know what I mean?

[gto250us]

I agree. Now my rant about Randall's. They are now longer Randall's, only in name. They sold out to Safeway and since then they have gone to hell. They no longer care about the customers. I now hate the place.

Part of the problem that you mentioned is the fact that folk expect all kinds of produce at all times of the year. thus the need to import crap all year around. I have seen how food is raised in China and I want no part of it. They crap right in the irrigation ditches.

[RedScare]

I have seen how food is raised in China and I want no part of it. They crap right in the irrigation ditches.

Here in the US, they create fertilizer frum sewage sludge. What's the difference? Maybe ours doesn't stink?

Parrothead, people who are against a world economy are known as anti-globalization protesters. Sometimes, in its broader, more political form, they might be called isolationists. As to why all of your food comes from abroad, it is the same reason all of your WalMart purchases come from China. It is cheaper.

[TJones]

I agree. Now my rant about Randall's. They are now longer Randall's, only in name. They sold out to Safeway and since then they have gone to hell. They no longer care about the customers. I now hate the place.

Part of the problem that you mentioned is the fact that folk expect all kinds of produce at all times of the year. thus the need to import crap all year around. I have seen how food is raised in China and I want no part of it. They crap right in the irrigation ditches.

Hey , A billion Chinese can't be wrong !

[Guest danax]

"Buy America" is not necessarily motivated by disliking other races, your reasons certainly aren't. Citizens from other countries come here and flaunt their preference for their country, many without even being here legally, so please don't feel even a twinge of guilt for wanting to support the Red, White and Blue.

The world economy is a reality and I accept that other countries are able to produce many items much more cheaply than we are. At least in this situation, we can act on our convictions and seek out Amercian products, although the more global the economy becomes, the harder that is as a lot of products are assembled here, manufactured there, etc. I accept the globalization and love the free market but also share your desire to help our own. I don't check labels as much as I need to be but I do reject organic brocolli from Mexico. I'm sorry, but Mexico is about the last place I would trust to produce pesticide free produce. Am I being racist? No, I've spent a lot of time there.

Bottom line though, more than I support American products, I support the free market, which in theory, means that I should buy the product that has the most value, and sometimes, that's not the one made in America. As an example, I would be very hesitant to buy an American car. I own an '87 BMW that is an fine piece of engineering. Over 300K and not a bit of exhaust smoke. I have come to appreciate the beauty of this simple machine and, as a result, have decided that the Germans have us whooped as far as auto engineering is concerned. I've owned many Amercian cars and they'd all be in the junk yard by 150K. I admit my belief is based mostly on my limited experiences but that's always going to be the biggest factor in our decisions.

That said, I will sometimes buy American and pay more if all else is equal.

[nmainguy]

I buy S. American produce as well as US produce in season. I buy T-shirts from American Apparel [all made in LA]. I buy parts for my Mercedes. Some made in the US and some in Germany. I buy parts for my Ford pick-up. Some made in Japan and some made in the US. I buy gasoline and oil so who knows where the source of that is.

Parrot? Is the food you're getting bad?

No, I don't think you are being a racist. Did you know there are only 3 races? Caucasian, Negro and Mongoloid? Most predjudices anymore are based on ethnicity and/or nationality.

Like it or not, we're all stuck here on this planet together. I for one refuse to limit my choices based on an isolationinst ideology.

[Jeebus]

Did you know there are only 3 races? Caucasian, Negro and Mongoloid?

Very educated reply..

I for one am okay with the isolationist name tag if it helps my people (United States citizens) create and retain personal wealth. Unfortunately, as pointed out above, most merchants are now owned by national, if not global corporations. Also, when the product is better built in Japan or Germany, how can you really turn a blind eye in pride over practicality?

The only way you'll be able to support "mom & pop" is to buy from "mom & pop". These days that usually requires alot of reseach to find a legit "mom & pop". It seems corporations know that there are some out there that are looking for that and so they adjust their marketing to reflect such.

Either way, I agree. We live in Texas, so we should be able to get some Texas beef. The same for seafood as we live on the Gulf of Mexico. Vegitables & Fruit should be no different either. Did you know that farmers get paid to grow, harvest, and then destroy crops every year so that the government can import from SE Asia & Central/South America? Yet we still see hungry kids on TV everyday.

[midtown 4.2]

My family had, at one time, a successful gulf shrimping business. We had to sell our 90 foot boat because we could not compete with the cheap shrimp imported from Vietnam . . . ironic that we are Vietnamese too!

Anyway, you can get your fresh & local seafood from the row of shops in Seabrook (oposite side of the channel from the Kemah Boardwalk). I also suspect that the farmers market on Airline will most likely have local produce . . . but for some reason, I suspect that a lot will be from Mexico.

The crop of weekend farmer's market (Midtown & Heights) definately have local produce.

Try to avoid beef raised in South America . . . they are destroying irreplacable forestland to keep up with the increasing demand for pastureland.

[jm1fd]

I have come to appreciate the beauty of this simple machine and, as a result, have decided that the Germans have us whooped as far as auto engineering is concerned.

BMW? Simple? Not so much.... The Krauts come up with some of the most needlessly complex auto engineering solutions the world has ever seen.

[westguy]

If you can't find shrimp from the Gulf right now, its probably because the major fishing areas have been wiped out by the hurricanes. HEB and Randalls had to find another supply. There's no way you can support people who lost their boats and all power by purchasing shrimp right now.

[editor]

When it comes to produce, some of it has to do with climate, and some of it is seasonality.

Take, for example, bananas. No. You cannot get American bananas at your local store. There are no large-scale banana plantations in the United States (that I know of). If you want bananas, you're going to have to buy someone else's.

On the other hand, there's lettuice. If you want lettuice, the stores carry American lettuice grown in California and Alaska. But only when it's in season. When it's not in season they carry it from other countries where it's in season. That's the benefit of a global economy -- you don't have to change your eating habits every month.

Then there's the shrimp situation. American shrimp producers are seriouly hurting because of imports from China, Thailand and other places. They're trying to have laws passed so that supermarkets can't label these creatures "shrimp" since technically, they're not. They're some other kind of crustacean. You can buy locally harvested shrimp, but you'll have to drive an hour or more to get it. But it will be amazingly fresh. The supermarkets will carry local shrimp if enough local people ask for it. This is the benefit of places like Whole Foods and Central Market which are more responsive to their customers than most other chains.

In the old days it would take all day to do your grocery shopping. You'd go to the butcher, to the baker, to the fish market, and you ate what was fresh and in season. Now for the sake of convenience we've given up control over what we eat. If I knew how to take it back, I would. I try to shop at mom-and-pop and high-dollar local-buying stores whenever I can. But sometimes you just need toilet paper and a Snickers and end up buying fruit from God-knows-where.

[2112]

...Then there's the shrimp situation. American shrimp producers are seriouly hurting because of imports from China, Thailand and other places. They're trying to have laws passed so that supermarkets can't label these creatures "shrimp" since technically, they're not. They're some other kind of crustacean. You can buy locally harvested shrimp, but you'll have to drive an hour or more to get it. But it will be amazingly fresh...

It's posts like this that make me come back for more.

[uncertaintraveler]

Okay, maybe racist isn't the word I'm going for here. I'm not sure what the term might be...but I want to be able to buy food that is raised/grown right here in my own darned country. Is that too much to ask?

As has been mentioned previously, if you want to buy food that is raised/grown in this country, you should shop at a farmer's market. Or raise your own food....

I've ranted about this before, I am sure.

Actually, I can't say that I've noticed. Its not like you rant about many things...

My problem now seems to be that everywhere I shop--be it Randall's, Kroger, HEB, or WalMart (and I frequent all of them) all I can find is produce from other countries. Lettuce from Mexico. Asparagus from Peru. Apples from California. Oh wait....well, close enough

I fail to see how this is a problem. Do you only want to eat things from the U.S.? If so, then (as has been mentioned before), shop elsewhere. Oh, and while you are it, don't buy anything that isn't native to our soil---I'd hate for you to buy "exotic" or "foreign" foods, like chinese gooseberries (a/k/a kiwi fruit), rambutans, patagonian toothfish (a/k/a chilean sea bass), and so on.

I was at Randall's today, the Flagship Randall's on Memorial, when I found that they didn't have ONE piece of fish that wasn't from a foreign country. Not just any foreign country, either--CHINA. That's right, folks, your fish is from China, at least it is if you buy it from Randall's. It's on a teeeeeeensy weensy little sign that the fish sit on. The shrimp were all from Indonesia. HELLO--we live right on the gulf, with the best shrimp in the world, no doubt--and our local grocer (well, as local as Safeway can be) gets their shrimp from INDONESIA. Wow. Was it any cheaper? Nope. Not at all. At HEB, I found out that the whitefish I bought was called Basa and was farm-raised in Vietnam. OH GOODY. Glad we're helping everyone else out and not our own farmers, you know like maybe in LOUISIANA or MISSISSIPPI? *sigh*

Gee...thanks for telling me! I'll be sure never to shop there again, lest I accidently bump into you there while I happily purchase my foreign-grown foodstuffs. Seriously, how is any of this even an issue? You can drop all the piety about how we should buy from our own farmers---no one is "forcing" them to stay in the farming business and, quite honestly, I'm getting tired of subsidizing their career choice. I suppose it has never occurred to you that perhaps the fish from Vietnam, China, Indonesia, etc, is better (as in, tastier, more plentiful, easier to obtain, cheaper, or whatever) than that harvested here? And has it ever occurred to you that perhaps the citizens of Australia, New Zealand, Spain, etc, buy their produce from the U.S. instead of getting it locally? Using your logic, are you suggesting that they should boycott our farmers???

Be aware, friends...be very aware... and ask where it's from and WHY DO THEY BUY IT? I get a bunch of shrugged shoulders from employees...nobody seems to care. I get a little nervous when I can't get a local snapper, ya know what I mean?

Uh...no, I don't know what you mean. And I still can't figure out why any of this is an issue. Pardon me for saying this, but you seem to get awfully worked-up about some of the most trivial of things....

If where your produce comes from matters so much to you, why don't you start your own grocery store? Name it Parrothead's Parishables, or whatever. That way, you can sell all the home-grown food you can find to people just like you, who (apparently) will happily pay a (probable) premium for items that aren't noticably different that what the competition offers.

[Parrothead]

Wow. What a nicely condescending and patronizing post. Smug, even. Well done.

I never said I didn't like foreign foods--where did I say that? I would simply like a choice---and apparently, I'm not the only one. I'd like to be able to buy American food at my grocery store--if you want to buy Mexican celery that has DDT all over it, that's YOUR prerogative, but I don't. If anything else, local produce simply TASTES better, at least IMHO.

I'd do almost anything for Houston to have a Farmer's Market. Great suggestion...can you make one magically appear?

I don't know how many countries receive our fruits and vegetables but I am willing to bet it isn't as much as the American farmer has lost in revenue from selling here in our own country, but I'm sure you can find out by checking the USDA site. Keep your head in the sand all you want, because if we keep going on like this we're going to be relying on other countries for our food just like we do for our oil, and surely you know where we sit with that situation.

Sheesh. Sorry my post (er, rant) steps on your foreign food-lovin' toes. I for one don't care for Kiwi (though California grows it beautifully), or Chilean Sea Bass (pardon my ignorance--of course, I meant "Patagonian Toothfish" ), and I really don't give a rat's ass if I never eat a rambutan in my lifetime. Give me Florida grouper and Texas shrimp and I'll be just fine, though I truly believe that Pacific NW salmon from Canada is the best you can get. See? I'm not so ign-er-ant. I can go exotic! Whoopee!

[TJones]

OK........ABRACA*POOF*. Farmer's Market every Saturday in The Heights. 8am til NOON, on White Oak between Studewood and Heights Blvd. ENJOY ! *POOF*

http://houstonfarmersmarket.org/

[Parrothead]

Yay!! That's great!! The last time I checked we never had one, I am so glad that there is one now! I will be sure to check it out on Sunday. Thanks for posting that!

[TJones]

Yay!! That's great!! The last time I checked we never had one, I am so glad that there is one now! I will be sure to check it out on Sunday. Thanks for posting that!

I think you will actually like it. I'm pretty sure you'll find American soil vegetables there. But alas, there will be some fruits of other origins, so beware. It is a nice place to go, get there early though, so you can get the best ones. Glad I could help a fellow Jimmy Buffett fan.

BTW, if you go on Sunday you might not find a whole lot there, unless that is your intention.

[ssullivan]

Yay!! That's great!! The last time I checked we never had one, I am so glad that there is one now! I will be sure to check it out on Sunday. Thanks for posting that!

It's actually been there for a pretty long time. There's also the one in Midtown that Monica Pope started in the parking lot of her T'afia restaurant. It's not nearly as big but has some nice locally grown offerings.

[smartalek]

My Family has farmed in Texas since 1860. I grew up on foodstuff that were raised on the property because it was a way to save money for the necessities one needs for maintaining the farm. Local farmers would sell the surplus to the townies and local grocery stores. Sometime in the 1960's agriculture took a turn to major Agribusiness and many small farms had to leave because they could not maintain the lifestyle on a small farm. I think that small farmers deserve to be subsidized. Unfortunately it is the giant corporations that control farming in this county that have given the business a black eye. They get the same subsidies as the small producer but have thousands of acres.

It honestly scares me to think that our food production is in the hands of the giant conglomerants. THink about the rising price of fuel and its effect on transportation. How will that will ultimately affect foor prices and supply if it is every disrupted.

At the turn of the century Houston and the surrounding area raised many agricultural products. Pearland, Alvin, Sugerland all were agriculture oriented. Now they are asphalt.

Did I get off the thread?

[bruce_oneal]

I agree. Now my rant about Randall's. They are now longer Randall's, only in name. They sold out to Safeway and since then they have gone to hell. They no longer care about the customers. I now hate the place.

Part of the problem that you mentioned is the fact that folk expect all kinds of produce at all times of the year. thus the need to import crap all year around. I have seen how food is raised in China and I want no part of it. They crap right in the irrigation ditches.

the randalls up by me (westheimer @ dairy ashford) seems to be dying a slow death. the store seems 1/3 stocked at any time you visit and it just seems dreary. i hate going there, but sometimes do when i am at petco --next door-- for my dog supplies.

[dbigtex56]

Some of you may have missed this article from the September, 1920 issue of The Garden Magazine regarding a man who made a profitable sideline of growing parsley in his backyard. I thought the following commentary was interesting:

What could fertile America become if many more men took their pleasure in a similar side-line! Literally tens - yes, hundreds - of thousands of back-yards and side-yards might produce food and flowers, to pleasure and to profit, and there would be a substantial slice cut off the "high cost of living!" Other ideals than those of the silk-shirt, jazz-dance, road-hog class would become popular.

We're fortunate that in Houston we have resources available for those interested in putting land to more productive use than parking lots or lawns.

Urban Harvest homepage

[Guest danax]

What could fertile America become if many more men took their pleasure in a similar side-line! Literally tens - yes, hundreds - of thousands of back-yards and side-yards might produce food and flowers, to pleasure and to profit, and there would be a substantial slice cut off the "high cost of living!" Other ideals than those of the silk-shirt, jazz-dance, road-hog class would become popular.

Urban Harvest homepage

That's hilarious. It must've been painful though for adults who came of age during the late 19th century to observe the apparent pilaging of the values that they held dear as the "Jazz-Age" began to blossom. Smoking, jazz-dancing voting flappers and everything rural going big city slowly but surely must've seemed outrageous, and maybe it was. What could he have meant by "road-hog"? Had Harleys just been invented? Sturgis 1920!

The author of that piece would've thought the world was falling apart if he could've peered into the future a half-century or so and observed many young people going "back to the land" and growing a crop other than parsley in their yards for profit.

At the rate we're going, in 50 years there won't be any plantable land left in town, except for the richest few who have greenspace surrounding their residence, formerly known as a yard.

[Ashikaga]

Okay, maybe racist isn't the word I'm going for here. I'm not sure what the term might be...but I want to be able to buy food that is raised/grown right here in my own darned country. Is that too much to ask?

I've ranted about this before, I am sure. At least, about my beef with Randall's as we once knew it going out the window.

My problem now seems to be that everywhere I shop--be it Randall's, Kroger, HEB, or WalMart (and I frequent all of them) all I can find is produce from other countries. Lettuce from Mexico. Asparagus from Peru. Apples from California. Oh wait....well, close enough

I was at Randall's today, the Flagship Randall's on Memorial, when I found that they didn't have ONE piece of fish that wasn't from a foreign country. Not just any foreign country, either--CHINA. That's right, folks, your fish is from China, at least it is if you buy it from Randall's. It's on a teeeeeeensy weensy little sign that the fish sit on. The shrimp were all from Indonesia. HELLO--we live right on the gulf, with the best shrimp in the world, no doubt--and our local grocer (well, as local as Safeway can be) gets their shrimp from INDONESIA. Wow. Was it any cheaper? Nope. Not at all. At HEB, I found out that the whitefish I bought was called Basa and was farm-raised in Vietnam. OH GOODY. Glad we're helping everyone else out and not our own farmers, you know like maybe in LOUISIANA or MISSISSIPPI? *sigh*

Racism is just a pigment of the imagination.

Be aware, friends...be very aware... and ask where it's from and WHY DO THEY BUY IT? I get a bunch of shrugged shoulders from employees...nobody seems to care. I get a little nervous when I can't get a local snapper, ya know what I mean?