pcard

The Chinese just bought Smithfield so that US meat can be sold to China, but what will happen is that in a few years the Chinese will produce their own meat, the US farmer will not benefit, and when we buy our Christmas ham the profits will go to China.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/smithfield-to-be-sold-to-shuanghui-group-of-china/

RetroRanger

I've read what the Chinese do to their own food, I'm not interested in any meat from them.

I'm sure the nimbys who complained about "farm odors" near their McMansions will enjoy it tho

Btw I flipped over a Dole fruit snack the other day and saw "apples from china" on the bottom of the package, a quick trip to the dole site confirms china is an apple source for them....cross dole off the list

Nilsson

Wouldn't you know that Goldman Sacks was somehow involved. They would sell out this entire country for a nickel.

Boldsmobile

I see it as, Americans sold out to the Chinese.

droldsmorland

OY-VEY!...just cant fix stupid! China for food...really. Ever seen a chinese kitchen or seafood farm...Lets just give up the whole country now and get it over with and move and conquer another continent. Err that's right none left cuz china bought them all...no we sold it....hummm....how bout Mars ya Mars. Remember Roman Empire? History repeats...so does stupid.

oldcutlass

I won't buy fresh fruit or vegetables that come from Mexico or S America either.

Indy_68_S

"They will sell us the rope with which we will hang them."

pcard

So true.

Boldsmobile

Why do Americans let this happen?

ELY442

Pretty soon China is going to OWN USA. China has so much money they can help pay off USA debt. We are going to have an Asian president soon.

VinMichael

Nah, I've got faith in the U.S.

OLD SKL 69

I agree. The problem for us in the Northeast is that we get a lot of our produce from south of the border, especially in the winter. I always find myself now looking at food labels to see where it is coming from.

coppercutlass

I hope we all understand no matter where we buy our produce from it's already been bought by American groceries so suppliers have been paid so you actually hurt American supermarkets by not buying them and them losing there profit and having to fire American workers over it. I font think any supermarket ever said oh here are your rotten Mexican avocadoes no one bought them we want our money back that's not how it works . Also why care about this where we have ZERO control over. You think the gov will let blue collar people make decisions. When the gov. has the power to overturn your vote which is the most powerful thing the people have that should tell you something. Im sure if people actually go together to make a serious impact and it somehow did not benefit the us. gov they would make sure to undo what ever the people where trying to achieve. It's pointless to care to some extent because the path of our country is not in our hands but in the hands of other people way above us. I don't vote , I don't follow politics , uncle sam gets his cut and I let them handle the rest. If that's not trust in your gov idk what is. I also find life more enjoyable if I care less about things that are out of my power. Do you guys really believe that not buying produce from another countries or good for that matter will really impact anything. It's already in our country so it's too late. it would take millions and millions of people to make an impact.

rocketraider

Copper, it's not so much the guvmink, but what the guvmink lets the financial world get away with. There are no personal ethics or scruples in the financial sector any more.

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Vajenyan, and I have often found Smithfield brand meats to be a little substandard (if not downright inferior) compared to others. They bought up a lot of the better quality name brands to get rid of the competition. So, I don't buy Smithfield or any of its subsidiary brands http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/our-brands/

You want a good Virginia cured ham, may I suggest an Edwards or a Beale, both made in Surry VA by Wallace Edwards & Sons and available by online or mail order. The smell driving thru Surry is enough to reduce anyone to drooling.

69HO43

SO F**KING WHAT? I don't give three f**ks about who buys crap from where. If I, and a 40 million like me, decide not to buy Chinese originated food for example, and Kroger has to layoff thousands because of it, it's their fault, not mine. Don't lay any guilt trip on the consumer if they don't buy from idiots who buy sh*t from suspect countries. A few rounds of rotting sh*t on their shelves and they'll change their business plan in a hurry. Unless of course they pass a law requiring citizens to buy crap they don't necessarily want- they'd never do that...(oops. I was wrong).

But WIC and all those other overused and abused handout programs will subsidize the leeches of our society, so they'll sell all they can get their hands on.

coppercutlass

That's exactly what I mean. No one wil ever come together and if so the gov. Will find a bail out for the companies. Nuff said you supported what I said. If you personally can round up 40 million people I'll belive it untill then it's all hot steam. Also while we are avoiding chinese and mexican sourced food why don't we just stop using arab fuel.

Olds64

That's too bad. I don't understand why people don't vote in the States. It makes me sad. My wife doesn't vote either. I think it is a very poor example for our daughter.

FWIW, I voted absentee in a local school board election and I'm currently deployed overseas. If I can take the time to vote then you surely can.

MDchanic

I always vote.
Not because I think it will make a darned bit of difference, but because if I don't, I have no right to complain, and if there's one thing I love to do, it's complain.

As for Smithfield, I'm not in the habit of buying that sort of meats, but have been known to from time to time.
From now on, if I want cheap sausages or ham, it'll be Jones, or Jimmy Dean, or Armour, or, preferably, some local farm.

Processed pork from China (or from factories owned by the Chinese)? Never.

- Eric

coppercutlass

I have nothing to complain about. I fuly understand that the blue collar worker gets dragged through the dirt. We don't get hand outs and we don't get tax cuts.Whatever they decide to do we have to live with and I fully understand that and choose to live life not caring because I can complain but that won't help me any.

ELY442

You can tell by looking at the numbers on the bar code if its made in China. The first 3 numbers could be 690, 691, 692.

coppercutlass

I saw this today and thought about this thread.
http://www.cracked.com/article_20454...t-economy.html

455man

I shoot my own meat here in Kansas And I vote but I'm ok with the uninformed not voting.

VinMichael

Good article. I like the one about the illegal immigrants saying, "you probably have a racist uncle telling you that they live off the grid and soak up tax dollars." So true, I actually have an uncle like that hahaha. However I don't know if I'd call that being racist, but whatever. Close enough.

m371961

I vote because so many died for the right to do so. (WW2 for example) I feel it is the least I can do. Do I sometimes feel it is in vain? Yes, but I too like to complain.

citcapp

Have ever heard the term "the silent majority. There are more the one definition but they do lead to one point. They let the loud and monied minority run our country. If all of the people who say their vote doesn't make a difference voted we could throw the bums out. If you don't vote I can't hear your complainants. I have seen and been involved in grass roots efforts in Washington State and a time or two and have seen change made. I also agree with m371961. maybe that is because I am 68 years old and can remember going to the polling place at the grade school in my small town and the whole town turned out to vote. That generation made a difference you bet.

oldcutlass

[QUOTE= And I vote but I'm ok with the uninformed not voting.[/QUOTE]


So true!

coppercutlass

So you guys belive you are informed ? I wonder why the gov. Has classified files not even the american public cannot see or access. You are possibly as "uninformed" as me because most of the political information the people hear and see ois from media sources and the choose what to tell you and what you hear. So you don't always get the full scoop. I'm pretty sure media corporations are biased as well I don't watch enough of the news to know but usually you can tell . so unless you are there getting the info from the source you realy can't say you info is 100 percent accurate. Again news channels choose what to tell you.

Sampson

I was reading a good book by Colin Powell the other day and he was describing a high level cabinet meeting when he was in the Reagan White House and every one was in a panic because the Japanese were buying up large chunks of real estate in NYC and purchasing American Companies. Reagan listened to all the doomsday scenarios and quipped "looks to me like the Japanese know a good investment when they see one. I am glad they are investing in America!" The meeting was over very quickly and History has proven Reagan right. I suspect in 20 years the Chinese investments will be a memory as well.

MDchanic

As far as I'm concerned, the US took a wrong turn with Andrew Jackson and the movement for universal suffrage.

When you had to own property in order to vote, voters had a stake in what happened to the country, once all you had to do was suck oxygen, the parties could round up the locals and feed them a shot in return for a vote, and it was ll downhill from there.

- Eric

m371961

At the risk of being political, now they are given food stamps, low interest loans, health care and cell phones.

toro68

Same here! By the way there is farm up in Madison, Maine that grows tomatoes year round.

Sampson

Ok I guess it sounds like I am defending the Chinese but that is not my intent. I want to keep products in the USA as much as the next guy. My delema with this one come from these facts. Smithfield Foods employs 12500 Americans. They donated 4.6 Mil to local Charities and had an annual payroll of 508 million American Dollars. They operate 3 large production plants within 60 miles from where I live in NC. These facilities are in poor rural areas where there are few alternative jobs. These employment numbers do not include the hundreds of farmers who are under contract to produce the hogs. Unless they move production offshore I fail to see the benefit to American workers to boycott these products. But if we do boycott them the factories will for sure be shuttered and there are another 12,500 jobs lost and another 12,500 Americans looking for gov't handouts off my tax dollars. Just sayin there is more to the story.

455man

The problem is that the profits from us buyers go overseas. When people boycott one business other businesses will gain business because people wont stop eating. So if someone gets laid off there will be a job opening at another company.