Boycotting American food products isn’t that easy

The orange juice, believe it or not, is provided by a company owned by Coca-Cola. The mustard — American. And, OMG, we just bought some Heinz catsup last week. That’s from Ohio.

Most of my breakfast cereal comes from the U.S., though I was excited to find some wheat puffs from Vancouver. The pet food is all made in the States.

I admire the efforts of a fellow named Scott Chamberlain in Ottawa. He’s determined to buy Canadian, or at least buy from any country except the U.S.

He calls it “making the refrigerator great again.” Others call it “pocketbook diplomacy.” Chamberlain has given Cheerios the boot in favour of Made in Canada cereals, and buys Canadian booze. No bourbon for him. And he’s leaving his California wine in the bottle.

The experts, of course, say boycotting American products is a useless exercise. The U.S. economy is so huge, our puny efforts count for nothing.

I’m not even sure “boycott” is the right word — it’s more about making choices for symbolic purposes. So the next trip to the supermarket is going to involve some careful scrutiny of labels and, if there’s an option, the Made in Canada or Made Somewhere Else product is going to get preference.

That will extend to other things as well. I visited the U.S. recently but now other vacation destinations will move to the top of the list until Trump is gone.

I know, it won’t make any difference. But it will make me feel as if I’m doing something.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

by Armchair Mayor

Boycotting American food products isn’t that easy

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