I applaud the efforts of the young people who are protesting the sale of goods produced in Far Eastern sweatshops. I have been reading labels for years and refuse to buy products coming from corporations that have no regard for the human condition.

My favorites include Nestle Corp., a Swiss multinational corporation whose practices among the Third World nations continues to concern me. It’s not easy to avoid them as they control so many products, among them Nine Lives cat food and Carnation. I avoid the “Made in China” designation and diligently search for other sources. Nabisco and Kraft are two others worthy of boycotting as they are owned by R.J. Reynolds, a major tobacco producer.

I worry that the grapes or raisins I buy may have been picked by children who should be in school. I refuse to buy products that used to be made in Maine, then moved south and then overseas. The new labels on some clothes are a clever American flag with the company initials in place of the stars. Very deceiving.

It only takes 15 percent of any given population to have an effect, so to you young people, please accept my thanks for what you are doing. Harriet Tilley Bangor