With the recent outbreak of hep A, contracted from imported berries, why on earth do we allow this practice when we have the ways and means of processing affordable foods right here.

We have the farmers who are forced to dump, or not even pick their fruit, often because it is either lower grade (suited for this application), or they can't compete with imported prices. We also have rising unemployment, which means we have the available man power, so why are we one, importing this crap, two, allowing the waste in our own crops, and three, paying people to do nothing while there are obviously jobs that can be created by value adding our own produce, produce that is often going to waste.

It's a no brainer!

You need to be suspicious of any type of food that comes out of China, they sell rat meat as lamb, cows and pigs graze on landfills, As they do here they use glue to manufacture meat, plastic is mixed with rice, reclaiming cooking oil from drains.

China is faking anything they can get money from.

I completely agree with you, "Made In China" is rapidly becoming an major issue. They fake anything (copy the format and do the same using cheap stuffs) and make a huge profit out of it. However not all the Chinese manufacturers are bad, and yet it is true that there are some of them whom cause the trouble.

Unless people decide that they will not buy Chinese Products (just to save a few dollars on worthless products) and indirectly help the Chinese Economy beat us and build their armed forces to challenge democracies in Asia.

2 Years back I am and My wife purchased goods (stuffs for Christmas) from a Chinese vender and found that most of the products hardly survived till Christmas (just 2 days).

This time we decided we will only buy made in America products and went online to http://www.thechristmaspalace.com/

Dear rehctub,

You're right to be concerned about the importation
of foods into this country. We export
food, therefore we're forced to import - as part of our
the Trade Agreements.
And the competition between retailers in Australia
to keep prices low also contributes to all of this.
South Africa and Thailand are nations notorious in
poor conditions of worker's rights and in having
extremely low wages. They are the two markets
commonly used by the cheap food retailers in Australia.

I'm personally very fussy in my choice of the products
that I buy. I check the labels and prefer Australian
made.

We need more regulation and better testing for what comes
into this country.

Yes Foxy I agree.

I just see this as a prime opportunity for us to value add a product that is currently either left in the paddock to rot, or dumped. We have the produce, we have the man power, and now we have the motive.

What better way to promote jobs than to value add something that we currently import, but have the produce available right here.

Dear rehctub,

I totally agree with you.

What bothers me is that -

There was a comedy sketch recently
on TV that inferred that Dick Smith buys cheap
goods from China and re-brands them in the
"Dick Smith" brand for sale in Australia.
I wonder how much truth there is to that?

We've bought a few of his products and now I
can't help wondering if they're not from China.
He's a man I've admired for so long in backing
Australian made products.

Foxy, now you're comparing food production, or rather value adding food that is usually wasted, with manufacturing.

Manufacturing is not something you can just take people off the dole and expect them to perform, whereas processing otherwise wasted foods is to a large extent. You are o comparing apples with apples there Foxy.

As I see it there are two ways we can reduce unemployment without effecting those already employed. One is to increase consumer spending/demand, not likely to happen in the near future and two is to take something we import now, that we can value add here rather than import. Berries is one such item. We have Golden Circle about to exit the country, (if they have not already) so we don't even need to build a factory to at least trial the concept.

Besides, China is hardly in a position at the moment to pull the victim card.

Dear rehctub,

I quoted Dick Smith simply to make a point that we should
produce locally and label locally and not produce overseas
and label locally.

I agree with you on food production.

Point taken Foxy.

The food labeling laws are a joke. Made in Australia from local and imported goods. So, if ingredients laws are any indication, these labels should at least read 'made.....from IMPORTED and local ingredients' because food ingredient labels require ingredients to be listed in order of quantities.

The other problem is what is the percentage of local/imported as it's never mentioned. And of cause the grey area legally is, does this refer to the contents, or just the packaging because after all it's the package that contains the info.

Another one to be wary of is NZ foods, as China imports foods indirectly to Oz via NZ.

I think the best way is to buy from small local suppliers who sell fresh produce as you can buy berries at times when they have passed their best then freeze them. $12 per kilo is $2.75 per pun net for strawberries, not allowing for the seems of cause.

Dear rehctub,

I am very fussy about my food products.

I have a local green-grocer that I buy from.
I have my own butcher, and even my fish I
buy from someone I've known and trusted for
years. This is something I was taught to do by my
parents.

If you buy any imported food you are a nutcase and you are harming the Australian producers.
Those berries were grown in South America and shipped to China where they were processed and then shipped to Australia.
Can you imagine the crap income the growers in SA are getting.

It's funny you should say that Foxy, because I have just purchased a small country butcher shop as I'm a firm believer that the small guys are about to make a come back so I'm going back in after a few years break.

It's small and also attached to a busy fruit shop along with vans selling seafood and coffee. Looking forward to getting back on the horse, or should I say cow!

Dear rehctub,

Good on You!

Here's wishing you all the success possible.
People like yourself deserve every bit of support
from the public - and you'd certainly have mine
if you lived in our area.

Thanks Foxy

Good luck with the Butcher shop, R. I hope there's no supermarket nearby. As for the imports, I thought everyone was ecstatic about global free trade? The nay-sayers were shouted down. Well, this is what it means to all third world countries as we're becoming, having lost our manufacturing, clothing, car and other industries...indeed most other ways of making ourselves independent.

@tub

i agree with you on foodstuff coming out from china
caveat emptor
there are chinese there who are the product of the cultural revolution...they do not care two hoots about moral issues

as to your question on why cant we support australian grown food and esp so when there are massive unemployment

quick and simple answer... cost of production is just too high...all bec of the unreal wages demanded

@foxy

i do not agree all consumer products coming out of china are crap
you get what you pay for

let me give you an eg

a product made in australia cost $100 on the shelf
a similar product imported from usa or germany will set you back by $110-120 (cost of importation and slightly better in quality)
now, you can get a cheap china made product at $30 ( must be the christmas lights you paid for)
alternatively you can get one that is as good as that made in australia for $60
and if you are prepared to pay for quality, the chinese can get that made for you at $80...as good as the german quality

so, do yourself a favour... and do australia a favour
please tell one and all, you get what you pay for
dont use the chinese as whipping boys

the farm services chaps in my town learnt that 10 years ago
the owner swore never to use chinese made products... "only aussie made' he said.
i gave him the above illustration
and guess what?
90% of his goods in the shop are now from china and he makes 2 trips there a year to procure more goods
and the entire community here is educated to the real world

thks

Platypus 1900: "90% of his goods in the shop are now from china and he makes 2 trips there a year to procure more goods
and the entire community here is educated to the real world"
The real world of 7% Australian unemployment and rising. The solution that you avoid proposing, is for Australian wages to fall to the Chinese equivalent. Have you seen how those workers live?

@ybgirp

we live in a global world
think-tanks all over knew this 50 years back

my medical doctor cousin migrated to scotland 25 years ago
he thought he will be immuned from the plague of low cost 3rd world countries

how wrong he was
the internet changed that
internet transcribing meant he now got to contend with his peers who used indians resources

i dont have all the answers but i know all these "buy only made in aussie" ostrich talk is not real

@foxy

try to buy the $60 christmas lights and your next christmas will be merrier (and you would have saved $40) ... and continue saving so we do not have to borrow from the rich asian countries or the ME countries

Dear Platy,

Some Chinese products maybe adequate but the
majority are inferior. We bought an electric-drill
and interchangeable batteries. The batteries last
five minutes of electrical charge. We bought four
table-legs to replace the ones that broke after
12 months (outdoor table). Of the four newly-purchased
lega - one broke while being installed. Never had such
problems with products made in Australia.

From now on we'll check where the products are made
no matter what the cost - before buying.

Some time ago there was a TV program about Chinese products
available in Australia - warning buyers to evaluate
before buying. Since the products we bought were sold by
Bunnings Aust. we assumed that they would be of a reasonable
quality.

@foxy

i maintain the $100 example i gave earlier

my mate at the farm services will vouch for the chinese suppliers
you get what you pay for
if that wasn't the case, the local community would have cried foul years back
now everyone is getting our $60 equivalent products... yes ..once in a while you have a rotten apple...that will always be replaced without a question asked and with apologies

you decide what you want but dont be alarmed when products made in australia has screws...wires...resistors...capacitors...tape...paint....etc coming from china and india

the german tractor i own has 90% of the parts from india and china...LOL
i think only the design and technology are from germany

80hp and i paid $39,000 new
it purrs like my birman cat
if i had purchased an aussie prodt, it will set me back by $80,000 and believe me, there will be problems with it

i invested the $41,000 saved as the downpayment for one of my grown up daughter to buy her 3rd property

see...i do not berate the indians and the chinese buying up our properties, neither do i boycott their products
i make wise and prudent bushiness decisions
that was what i told the farm services boss... dont go around shouting slogans like "Buy local or Buy Aussie"
leave those colorful outbursts to emotional housewives and politicians!

from today on, i am sure foxy lady will be a rational and thinking foxy lady (and please dont buy the $30 products...not clever)

i just came back from lunch with the boss of the farm service co
i shared with him what i posted here

he told me if he had not imported good quality farm fences and machines etc from china and given the local community a choice, his biz would have been in trouble

nowadays, almost everyone in this country town never sing the "buy ozzie" tune any more

it is "the best price for the same quality" slogan

the day we can get our products at competitive price, we will all buy ozzie, ceteris paribus