I have long resisted becoming the flag waving hillbilly prophesizing “Buy American” just because I was born in the USA. To me, this catchphrase of the rusty-bumper pickup truck crowd meant nothing more than the fact that we should buy American products such as a car or toaster not based on quality, value, or style, but because of where it was assembled. In the past I would have professed my love of reliability and durability and how I want the best product regardless of origin. After all, it’s my money, I deserved the best, and people are people, regardless of where they live. This is competition, free enterprise, and may the best product win.

In the past 30 or so years, I believe the true intentions of the American buying public have been “Buy it as cheap as possible”, while ignoring the indirect costs.”Buy American”, however, has taken on a whole new meaning, protecting our environment and in turn, ourselves. The fact is, it’s often far more sustainable and “green” to purchase local products over those produced overseas. Let’s compare a theoretical widget produced here in our home state, whichever that may be, as opposed to a product produced overseas.

The raw materials and products supplied to create the widget produced here is most likely sourced locally. The companies that produce these materials have government standards for fair labor practices, wages, and workers safety, the employees probably have healthcare available, and the materials are held up to various quality standards. The EPA also most likely monitors the production of these materials. The materials are then transported a short distance to be manufactured and then are transported to a distribution center, a retail store, and then the trip to your home.

On the other hand, employees overseas in developing nations are often paid a very low wage with no benefits and under poor health conditions. As we have often heard in the news, there may be toxic or poisonous chemicals used in the production of products and materials deemed to be hazardous by our government but used without regulation in the developing country, damaging the health of the factory worker and the end user alike. Once assembled, the item must be shipped halfway across the world, using an intense amount of energy, then once again, distributed to a warehouse, transported again to a retailer, and brought home after being purchased.

The transportation alone is extremely energy intensive, but when you factor in all of the other specifics, buying local really is the new “Buy American”, and the idea really starts to have a solid foundation in common sense. Factor into the equation the traditional argument of jobs and money staying in the country benefiting our economy, and its pretty darn win-win.

Armed with this new reasoning, if a widget carrying the good old “Made in the USA” label is of equal or superior quality, it trumps the competition even at a reasonably higher price. The quality of your life and those of the workers who put it together should trump the “lowest price”. However, my original thoughts on the subject still play into the selection and if a foreign widget is by far superior in performance, durability, or it’s overall impact on the environment, it may chosen over the domestically produced widget. This should encourage the American competitor to offer a truly competitive product. Everything has its costs, whether realized now, in the distant future, or after it’s too late.