Your canned goods come from WHERE?!

I am now looking at ingredients in a whole new light.

Since starting No More Corn Syrup, I have been reading every ingredient list on every grocery item I get my hands on. I now have a pretty good idea of what things do and don't have corn syrup in them.

What gets really confusing is WHERE things come from.

I was feeling pretty good about myself today as I made a snack of natural vanilla yogurt topped with mandarin oranges.....until I read the back of the can.

No, it did not contain Corn Syrup - rather, it was a PRODUCT OF CHINA.*

OK - so maybe the term MANDARIN oranges should have tipped me off, but I am starting to notice that more American canned goods come from China than most people think.

Last week, I used some canned mushrooms to top a pizza. After opening and using them, I saw that those too were Chinese food.

In the recent past, we have had some scares with Chinese products, mostly toys, that have concerned the public. Now I am not saying that my pizza mushrooms or oranges are laced with lead. But it does seem pretty crazy to ship some little tiny oranges in a can half-way around the world to top my yogurt. I'm not sure how much fossil fuel is used to move my oranges, but it's got to add up.

You know what they say about if "Your're not part of the solution..."

Last time I checked, both oranges and mushrooms grow in the good ole' USA.

So next time you are grocery shopping, don't just check the ingredient list. See where it came from too.

Or better yet, start a garden. Then you know what it is AND where it came from.

-Ben


*Nothing personal against China. I try not to buy too much from New Zealand or other distant lands either.