There have been soooo many recalls in the news lately -- my head is spinning! You name it, it’s on the list: children's toys (too many to name), fresh vegetables (spinach), frozen foods (Banquet pot pies), canned food (Castleberry Hot Dog Chili sauce & Chunky Soup), peanut butter (Peter Pan), frozen beef patties (Topps), white chocolate (Kraft), baby cribs, pet food, fish and toothpaste. And those are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. Who knows how many more recalls are lurking.

Some of these products are made right here in the good ole U.S. of A., but a large number of them come from China. So the easy answer would be, just stop buying things made in China and scrutinize American products more closely, right? Not so simple! A Louisiana family tried that for a year and found out just how difficult it is. Simple things like buying shoes, finding birthday gifts and fixing appliances around the house was a huge, expensive task. They documented their experience in the book, “A Year Without ‘Made in China’.” (click on the book for more info)

Economists say about 15 percent of the $1.7 trillion in goods the U.S. imported in 2006, came from China. So what are we to do? Clearly, the companies producing these products aren't doing enough inspections. How can we protect ourselves? One thing is for sure, we can’t count on the government to do it for us. Senator Dick Durbin has been pointing out for some time now, the Agriculture Department and the Consumer Products Safety Commission are severely understaffed and unable to inspect the products coming into and made in this country. And the average person doesn’t have a testing lab in their home.

I’d have to say, the days of Little House on the Prairie never looked so good.