CNN.com has a whole section on Chinese import issues

[Geff]

If I recall, Geff lives in Washington state.  How weird is it that someone who lives in the apple capital of the county has to buy apple juice from China? 

I was just thinking the same. We do have a large manufacturer of Apple Juice concentrate, Tree Top in Eastern Wa. I'm tempted to call them for info, but to be honest I'm very hesitant to trust what any food company tells us these days.

[garypen]

A few years ago, Beach-Nut got into trouble when it was learned that their apple juice for babies was actually colored sugar water. I believe they blamed the supplier. I'll bet it was from China. But, back then, nobody was paying attention to where stuff was from.

But, as Davis points out, parents should be glad it was sugar water and not diethyline glycol water.

It doesn't matter how close one lives to an apple orchard, or a cornfield, or a peanut farm. There is no reason that ANY produce is being imported into this country, the most fertile on Earth, while farmers were driven out of business these last 10-20 years.

This is more than an issue of product safety, it is an issue of economic safety. The only onesbenefiting from these imports are the corporations who cut costs, and the Chinese corporations who produce and sell this bogus shit.

This is also different than the rise of Japanese imports during the 70's and 80's. In that case, the imported good were better quality than the domestic goods, and there were no food and drug safety issues.

[Geff]

There is no reason that ANY produce is being imported into this country, the most fertile on Earth, while farmers were driven out of business these last 10-20 years.

Yes, there is a reason (our corporate government), just no acceptable reason!

I'm more & more coming to the conclusion that the current government of the USA is very close to being as corrupt as those of our cold war "enemies" were.

[Mary K]

Yes, Davis and all, sounds trite but we could probably sacrifice an hour here and there away from our computers to buy a bag of local apples, a recycled juicer, and treat ourselves to the best tasting juice we have ever had. I know, my neighbor makes it and it is priceless! Every little step helps! Now you have me craving some of that juice. 

[garypen]

Not just apple juice, but a lot of produce is available locally in many states. Of course, I might be spoiled living in California with it's abundant farmland of fruits and vegetables. But, that is true of so many states. Washington for its apples; New York for it's apples; New Jersey for a variety of vegetables; almost all of the mid-western states for it's wheat, corn, potatoes; the southern states for their nuts and soybeans; Florida for it's oranges. Of course, all of those states grow much more than just those few things.

We need to curtail this global trade nonsense, or at least make sure that all global trading partners uphold the same high standards that our growers and manufacturers do (and they're not all that high, either), or we simply will not import their crap and garbage. We need to put our foot down, and stop acting like little whores and porn actresses willing to give up all they used to believe in for the lure of money.

[Geff]

Yes, Davis and all, sounds trite but we could probably sacrifice an hour here and there away from our computers to buy a bag of local apples, a recycled juicer, and treat ourselves to the best tasting juice we have ever had. I know, my neighbor makes it and it is priceless! Every little step helps! Now you have me craving some of that juice. 

Thanks  for the reminder. That thought never crossed my mind.