Thursday, November 19, 2009

Where has all the production gone?

I went to pick up my made to order linen wear from Marisol embroidery. The dress is really sweet and fits perfectly. The blouse was almost done when I arrived; they had to do the embroidery, but they did that while I went to buy a purse at the market. I was talking to the daughter of the family business and I asked where the fabric comes from. She said the 100% linen and cotton fabric is made in Guatemala or El Salvador. Some people use fabric from China, but not us, only Central America. She said, we used to get fabric from Nicaragua, but they don't grow any cotton anymore, there is no linen. Since the 80's. She was wearing a beautiful blouse made of cotton home spun cotton. This blouse she said, was made with fabric they used to make in Granada. I'm really careful with it because it is from the last of that fabric.

There are rows of abandoned factories outside of many towns here. Granada's are lined up along the cemetery road to Catarina. Many of them closed very recently. After the last election. I know this is the story everywhere; change happens. There is no textile business in the US anymore. But here all that was lost has been replaced with nothing at all. For some reason, the shuttering of the little cotton factory breaks my heart.

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