Ultimate Challenge Update

The Ultimate Challenge is underway and I have already failed not once or twice but several times. It is incredibly difficult to get away from things that are Made in China. Like ridiculously difficult. I used to think High Fructose Corn Syrup was hard to get away from but it is simple compared to how ubiquitous Made in China products are.

But I am trying. I am aware and I am making an effort to seek alternatives whenever and where ever possible.

Made in China means dollars to human rights abusing Communist dictators who are very much bent on world domination.
Made in China means money leaving the US forever. It means supporting another country's people at the expense of my own. Made in China is simply untenable in the long run.

This idea of avoiding Made in China goods is not new. There's a book A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy and numerous websites dedicated to buying American.

But cutting out HFCS from our diets was absolute cake compared to how difficult it is to get off of the Made in China teat.

Next Ultimate Challenge post will include some Made in USA products that I already use and maybe some requests to find some domestically produced alternatives to Made in China stuff I have to use (I wonder how much more expensive a Made in USA iPhone would be?).

Want to join the challenge? It is as simple as leaving a comment and making the effort to keep more money in the US and send less of it to China.

The Ultimate Challenge to Shame All Other Challenges

Drink HFCS (American) Coke and Get Fat.

My family has gone through a few rounds of challenges in an effort to arrive at a healthier, happier place. The first was to remove High Fructose Corn Syrup from our diets, it was difficult at first because that goopy poison is in an amazing array of products. But, in time, it has become pretty easy to avoid the nasty goo.

We've since added a gluten restriction to our diets to see if that could help our kids "level" out a bit. My wife and kids no longer eat foods with gluten in them. I did it for a couple of weeks to see if there was any noticeable effect on my physical, intellectual or emotional feelings. The only change I noticed was that I got alot more annoyed because eating a hamburger or hot dog was a colossal pain in the ass. And I missed being able to make a sandwich with not tiny over-priced bread. So I'm not gluten-free but most of my house is (even my friggin' dog gets gluten-free kibble that my wife swears has cut down on her gaseous emissions).

An Intellectual Poison Challenge

Just as the gooey nastiness that is High Fructose Corn Syrup is nearly impossible to avoid, so are crappy lead-tainted products from China. I haven't been totally successful in eliminating HFCS from my diet but I am far more aware of its insidiousness and near ubiquitousness. And knowing, as they say, is half the battle.

Anyway, here is a challenge that I believe may even be more difficult than avoiding HFCS. The challenge is to avoid buying products with the label Made in China on them.

Care to join me on this little retail experiment? Pledge in the comments.