My dog Daisy is amazing. There’s no ball she can’t catch. We’re always entertaining our friends and neighbors with her astonishing athletic prowess. Daisy will plunge head first over the guard rail and down the hill on our property, retrieving the tennis balls with 95 percent accuracy.

We’ve had Daisy for three years now (we rescued her from the LA City Animal Shelter – all union city employees) and she never disappoints. But an athlete like that takes a lot of maintenance – and TLC. She’s just the latest addition to our pet menagerie. In addition to Daisy, we have two cats that our dog loves to chase around the backyard.

Between the cats and a 60 lb dog, that’s a lot of pet food. Which means a pretty hefty bill from the pet store each month. 

How were my pets going to react to the Buy Union! challenge I was embarking on? Would I be able to buy them food? Or have to feed them table scraps? And what about animal toys? Can I even purchase union-made tennis balls?

And most important of all, is there even such a thing as union made pet food?

I started to do my research. I go online and I’m relieved. My favorite dog food–Science Diet–is on the list of union-made pet products. (UFCW) But immediately I’m confronted with a dilemma because it’s not sold at a lot of union-staffed supermarkets. Purina is however the largest manufacturer of dog food in America and they’re largely union (BCTGM). I’ll be able to find them at a union store.

So, I downloaded some coupons online and drove to my local union-staffed grocery store to pick up their largest bag of Purina Pro Plan. It was so heavy that I had one of the helpful employees there load it into my union-made car. (I’m not the biggest girl in the world.) So, far a union-trifecta on this purchase!

As I drove home, passing city workers (union members!) fixing our roads, I thought about how often unions and union-members affect our lives… and also how we don’t talk about it. Instead we talk about how they’re destroying America, when I last checked this whole real estate bubble and corporate scandals wasn’t created by unions. It was created by greed.

From the teachers at my children’s schools, to the police and firefighters who protect my neighborhood, to the roads we drive to the water that flows out of the tap at our house, it’s all union performed and maintained… and maintained well. I like my community and it wouldn’t be a place I’d like to live if it weren’t for the city that keep the lights on, the water flowing, the schools and parks open and help contributing to an orderly society. There’s a huge value in that which is too often taken for granted, I think because we’ve become a little spoiled as a society. Well, this challenge has helped me appreciate that a little better and I can’t say I don’t mind.