WORC Guest Editorial
April 4, 2002
Where's the beef from?
By Shane Kolb
WORC Agriculture and Food Issue Team
(605) 244-7145
Do you know where the meat you buy comes from? Or who inspected it? Or
if anyone inspected it? Americans are concerned with their food's
safety and quality. Since September 11 it is more important than ever
to have a safe, secure food supply that gives U.S. families informed
choices about what they eat. Since September 11, more U.S. consumers
are choosing to buy U.S. produced goods.
Currently, U.S. consumers have no way of choosing U.S. meat and produce
in the grocery store. U.S. law has required that most retail goods be
labeled by their country of origin since the 1930's, but a quirk in the
law exempts meat and produce.
Four of five consumers support country of origin labeling of fresh
produce, 86% support labeling beef, and 90% would buy U.S. beef if
given the choice.
Less than 1% of imported food is inspected. The government relies on
foreign inspectors to police the plants that send us food -- a system
our government's auditors say is not working. As food imports have
increased, so have outbreaks of food poisonings.
Simply labeling food by its country of origin does not make it safer,
but if you can walk into a clothing store and see where the clothes are
made, shouldn't you be able to go to the meat counter and see where the
steak your family will eat came from?
Meatpacker lobbyists say labeling is too expensive, but the facilities
and systems we need to label meat and produce by country of origin are
already in place. Under existing law, meat and produce are labeled up
until the time they are unpacked and placed onto the store shelves. The
cost of enforcing Florida's labeling law (for fruits and vegetables)
amounts to one cent per household per week.
Have you ever wondered where your child's school lunch meat comes from?
If your school purchases through the federal school lunch program, it
is supposed to come from U.S.-produced livestock. Any company that
sells meat to the government -- that's all big companies -- is required
to verify the source of raw materials used. They do it for the
government; why not for consumers?
Opponents claim labeling imported food would be an unfair trade
barrier. But thirty of 37 U.S. trading partners require country of
origin labeling for imported meat, or produce, or both.
Why do meat packers want to deny you the right to know where your meat
comes from?
You can tell where your T-shirt came from. Shouldn't you have the right
to know where your T-bone came from?
Right now, Congress is merging House and Senate versions of the farm
bill. Both bills require labeling fruits and vegetables by their
Country of Origin; the Senate version also requires labels for beef,
pork, and lamb.
Call the U.S. Capital switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask for your
Senators and Representatives, and tell them to support country of
origin labeling for all U.S. meats and produce!
# # #
Shane Kolb is a rancher from Meadow, South Dakota, and Chairman of the
Agriculture and Food Issue Team of the Western Organization of Resource
Councils. WORC is a regional network of grassroots community
organizations in North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana,
Idaho, and Oregon.