Domestic Journey

In the last post about coffee I brought up a question regarding what classifies an American made product. I personally have had this debate regarding some products that seem to go through different stages or are comprised of many disparate parts. Take dog food for instance. I buy Spot’s Stew for my sweet Coco and it proudly states that it is made in the USA. If there are meats or grains in this dog food that are foreign, I don’t think it makes this a non-American-made product. The dog food itself was actually made in Florida, and that is the product I paid for. As long as I sign on the dotted line to purchase an American made product then I feel I am holding good to my promise here at Domestic Journey. Another example is my Cadillac. I can only assume that components of the car are from other countries but I am not buying a fuel pump or a stereo plug, I am buying the car as a whole, which is made in Lansing, Michigan. If I were to need to purchase any on those singular parts alone I would not be able to.

The opposite is not true, meaning if American products are sent oversees to be altered or used in something else, then I will not purchase that item. The components of a product are not my main concern, rather the product in its entirety.

Ideally I’d like to purchase only products that are purely from the U.S. from conception to completion, but that is not the parameters I’m existing in for this journey.

[P]atriotism… is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. ~Adlai Stevenson

I am admittedly a coffee snob. I love delicious coffee, and I will go out of my way to find what I deem a delicious cup even when something of lower quality is available. I know it’s dumb, but coffee is really my only vice or indulgence so I don’t feel like too much of an elitist. I know that Kona coffee is something that is talked about as “good” but in an attempt to find quality American grown coffee, I got a quick lesson on why.

The Kona belt is a stretch of land approximately 1 mile wide and 30 miles long. Only coffee grown within this long thin stretch can be officially ruled Kona Coffee. It’s similar to grapes grown in the Champagne region of France. There is a particularly becoming climate within the Kona belt for growing flavorful coffee beans. Many coffee manufacturers will blend small amount of Kona beans with other lower quality beans to make a “Kona Blend.” The minimum amount of Kona beans necessary to get the Kona blend title is just 10%.

I’ve always liked Kona coffee and found it to be worth the extra price, but I totally understand if it seems excessive to you. I really enjoy Koa coffee koacoffee.com and intend on drinking it all year to stay good on my promise to only purchase American made goods.

The coffee issue brings up a personal debate. If the beans are roasted, crushed and packaged in the USA but grown somewhere else, is it really a foreign product? I would buy a suit made in New York City if the silk came from India, so why wouldn’t coffee be the same? Obviously Hawaiian grown coffee isn’t a problem either way, but it does bring up an issue that I will tackle in the next post. That issue being, “what constitutes American made?”

With love,

MDC

*I must thank the band Pepper for first introducing me to true Kona coffee, when they were guests on Loveline.

My beautiful new co-host on Loveline, Simone Bienne, is celebrating her first birthday in America.

I thought it would be a nice gesture to bring my new British buddy a card with a message inside. I found this kick ass card with an eagle on it, which helped push the USA vibe without being too bullish about it.

The hitler-esque hairdo both confuses and entertains me but the card was made in the USA none the less. Happy birthday Simone.

See the card in it’s entirety.

Yesterday, I encountered my first real speed bump in my quest to go one full year of buying domestic. Groceries, clothes, and toiletries all required a little looking around but nothing too demanding. Medical supplies actually caused me some problems though.

I got some tattoo work done yesterday. (For those of you who know me, I did in fact get my friend Ryan Jaso as a centaur tattooed on my arm. For those of you who don’t really know me, I am that desperate to be loved.) As is customary when you get tattooed, I sought out lotion, unscented soap, and some bandages or wrapping, to properly care for it. Because the majority of toiletries I had found up to this point were all made in the USA, I assumed that soaps, lotions, and bandages would be the same. I was very wrong. I had to go to two different drug stores to find something that I thought would work for wrapping a tattoo. Soap was not too much of problem. I picked up some unscented Dove soap and it was fine. Eventually I found some Kendall brand gauze dressing and 3M medical tape that were both made in America. I was surprised to see the variety in country of origin for the Johnson & Johnson products. I saw Mexico, China, and Brazil on the back of J & J products all on the same shelf. I ended up using some super fancy Kiehl’s unscented moisturizing body lotion on my tattoo, and we’ll see how that works. I typically use Aquafor or something similar because it is petroleum based and sterile, and I simply couldn’t find any country of origin on the Aquafor, so rather then take a chance I opted for something I could count on. This Kiehl’s stuff might actually make the ravaged skin too soft and moist. Either way, I am still sailing smoothly through the American only waters.

MDC

A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. ~George William Curtis

More proof of U.S. made medical supplies.

Over time things change. No matter if it’s our mood, the planet, or cultural taste, there will be an ebb and flow. Change certainly lives in the world of manufacturing. Think about how differently we manufacture just about everything compared to even our parents generation. That being said, I have to accept that things will not only be produced differently but in different places. Things like the 501, and Chuck Taylor seem so ingrained in our american DNA, that it’s hard to believe they could be made somewhere else.

There was a time when these iconic items were still produced in the U.S.A. Same with Ray Ban sunglasses. Bausch and Lomb produced all Ray Bans here, until the late 90′s.

I went into the proverbial time machine and grabbed some genuine American made Wayfarers. The wayfarer shades have become a practical mandate for the modern hipster uniform. They were always a symbol of cool Americana, from beatniks to beefcakes.

If I only had some Huey Lewis and blow I could totally complete my time transformation. Sometimes you got to travel eras not only zip codes to buy American.
Wayfarers made in the U.S.A.

So as I told you in the last post, I went clothes shopping for a short time yesterday. I stopped by the UNIS LOS ANGELES SHOP at 138 S. La Brea in Los Angeles. UNIS clothing is mostly made here in Los Angeles or New York City. Designed by Eunice Lee who gave her name (in alternate spelling of course) and her classic but unique touch to a very cool line of American sportswear. I’ve long been a fan of UNIS stuff for it’s creativity and uncompromising, traditionalism.

I’m not trying to start a style blog, but I have to admit that I’m a total clothes horse and fashion is definitely a large part of my life. That being said I want to fill you in on some of the American made brands that I will be invariably investing in this year. I don’t want to just go buy something because its made here, but rather restrict myself to purchasing things I’m fond of that happen to be made in the USA.

Big thanks to Erik at the UNIS store who helped me out yesterday and guided me in the direction of some of the best domestic goods that UNIS had to offer.
View a few more pics from UNIS.

So you guys saw in my last post that I dumped most of my tupperware because it was made in other countries. It was perfectly serviceable, but I thought it might be time to streamline my kitchen cupboards and buy some new american made stuff. I didn’t have as much trouble as I anticipated. I went to my local drugstore and picked up some Rubbermaid products that proudly say they’re made in the USA.

I also went to the UNIS store here in Los Angeles. I picked up some new American made clothing that I will dedicate a whole other post to tomorrow.

I began this experiment on the first of January (yesterday). My goal is to go one year of purchasing only American made products. In the last 24 hours I actually didn’t purchase anything so it hasn’t been too tough. This morning I thought that I should maybe purge some of the uneccesary stuff I have in my house that is made in other countries. I grabbed some packaging boxes at U-Haul, which were assembled here in L.A., and started stuffing them full of T-shirts, tupperware, musical equipment and sporting goods that were all assembled outside this country. I have to admit that I drew the line with my Italian suits and Japanese electronics. Besides those few items I essentially cleaned house, jettisoning all my foreign goods. This will open up the opportunity to find more American goods to replace them.

Now I’m not going to be so wasteful as to just throw this stuff out. I’m giving the lion share of it to Goodwill, and my ex-wife is taking the rest to a second hand store in West Hollywood. This is starting to get exciting and real.

A while back I perused the aisles of a department store looking for a variety of goods, ranging from cleaning products to socks. I noticed that a mere fraction of these goods were actually created here in the U.S. I’m sure that many of the countries that produce these products rely on the labor for their economies to remain viable, but I also recognize how serious the unemployment problem is at home. To be fully forthcoming, I am not aware of the benefit American outsourcing might have globally, but I do know how many Americans are struggling to become and remain employed.

The impact of one middle class guy like myself buying domestic goods for a year will probably be negligible at best. I can however highlight and celebrate companies that continue to employ American workers by manufacturing goods domestically, regardless of the profit they sacrifice. I also hope to substantiate my belief that some of the very best products in the world are still crafted by American hands.

I will probably make mistakes. I am not a scholar and I have very little social/political or economic knowledge. One thing I can do is read a label and put back anything that doesn’t say made in the USA. This is my journey. It is a domestic journey.