Most of us are used to seeing labels that tell us where our clothes, electronics, toys, dishes, and even cars are produced. So why don’t we know where our food comes from? We will soon, when country-of-origin labeling – known as “COOL” – is required for red meat, chicken, goat, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng.

It’s been a long, hard fight to get this labeling on our food.  And if grocery store chains, large food processors and other agribusinesses got their way, consumers would remain in the dark. They don’t want you to know that tomatoes, peppers and other fruits and vegetables are being imported from Mexico and Chile, that meat is coming from Brazil and Argentina, and that garlic, apples and even poultry are being shipped from China.

Our food is increasingly coming from places with weaker food safety, water quality, pesticide and labor standards than the United States. The U.S. government only inspects about one percent of imported food.  And most consumers don’t realize that meat bearing a USDA stamp could have been produced abroad, in plants not visited by USDA meat inspectors.

It’s not just consumers  who are affected.  Tens of thousands of U.S. farmers and ranchers have gone out of business as agricultural imports have soared.  But country of origin labeling could give U.S. farmers and ranchers a way to distinguish their products from imports.

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Congress actually approved a mandatory COOL law in 2002 that covered beef, pork, lamb, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, fish, shellfish, and peanuts. But the meatpacking, food processing, and grocery retailer industries pressured Congress to delay its implementation until 2008 for all foods except seafood, which went into effect as scheduled in 2004.

But after a wave of scandals about unsafe imported food, COOL was too hot for Congress to ignore in the 2007 Farm Bill process.  When the Farm Bill finally passed in 2008, it contained a strong requirement for which meat can bear a ‘Product of the U.S.’ label and added several foods, including chicken, to the list of what is covered by COOL.

Mandatory country of origin labeling goes into effect for red meat, chicken, goat, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng on September 30, 2008.  But the USDA couldn’t resist taking one more shot at COOL.  When writing the regulations for COOL, the agency used an overly broad definition for what foods are “processed” (and are exempt from labeling requirements) which means that most frozen vegetables, pork products and nuts will not be labeled.  

 Take Action

The USDA is accepting comments on COOL until the end of September.

Tell them to close the loopholes for ‘processed’ foods!