Not all brands of O.J. use American-grown oranges. Florida's Natural O.J. does!
The grocery store is a great place to make an effort to buy American. We spend a lot of money at the grocery store, and most of the imported items that you will find there have an American-made product as a competitor. So the decisions you make as the grocery store have the potential to really add up and make a difference.
One great example of a product that has selections both made in the U.S.A. and imported is orange juice. I’m not sure how long this has been the case, but some of the top O.J. brands have begun making their juice from imported oranges.
I was really shocked when I noticed this. I thought that pretty much all orange juice in this country came from Florida, but that is simply not so. More than one top brand is now using juice from overseas.
Why is this important?
Well, whenever we buy American-grown oranges, we are putting Americans to work growing, harvesting, and processing the fruit. Plus, when Americans earn wages, they spend the money they earn hear in the U.S.A., creating even more jobs through a multiplier effect. However, when we send our money overseas to buy foreign-grown oranges, we get none of the job-creating benefits just described.
Did you know that the unemployment rate in Florida is the fourth worst in the U.S., 11.9, and some of the areas worst hit in the state are the areas where citrus is grown? Florida has lots of people that need work. When we take the extra time to make sure the O.J. we are buying is a product of the U.S.A. we are doing our part to put those Americans back to work.
Here is the kicker of it all. Most of the brands using imported oranges actually cost more than those using American-grown oranges even though they are in no way a better product. The best oranges come from Florida.
So next time you are buying O.J., please check to make sure that oranges being used to make it are grown in America. You will be helping American communities when you do it.
Until next time, here’s to doing what we can to support our country by buying American.
Randy
