Why Congress doesn’t want you to know where that beef is coming from
When you’re selecting chicken breasts for your family, would you prefer they came from an American farm?
Or how about from China, where a major poultry supplier was caught selling rotting chicken just last year?
And I’m guessing you’d choose beef from a Texas ranch over Brazilian farms whose meat has been contaminated with everything from E. coli to de-worming drugs.
But politicians from both parties are working hard to repeal a commonsense law that lets you know where the beef, pork and chicken you buy comes from. And when you hear why, you may feel more like chewing nails than whatever you’re planning for dinner tonight.
Buschkoetter can’t understand why our T-shirts can carry a “Made in China” label. But when a T-bone steak comes from Shanghai, it’s treated like a national secret.
But that’s the new reality Congress is trying to create by repealing what’s known as Country of Origin Labeling (COOL).
COOL has been on the books for years and forces meat products to carry labels saying which countries the food originated in. I’m sure you’ve seen these labels in the supermarket hundreds of times.
Ninety percent of Americans support COOL and it helps us avoid products from countries like China that have shoddy food safety records. But that didn’t stop the U.S. House of Representatives from passing a bill by a margin of 300-131 last month that would repeal COOL… and eviscerate your rights… for good.
So why are so many lawmakers throwing your rights under the bus? They’re being threatened by the World Trade Organization after Canada and Mexico lodged a complaint that COOL is keeping American consumers from buying their products.
And if that’s not the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, I don’t know what is. If we don’t trust the safety of Canadian and Mexican beef, pork and chicken, that’s their problem — not ours. Americans regularly buy food products from countries we trust, like Swiss chocolate and French cheese.
“When consumers shop for food, they deserve — and continually tell us that they want — to know where it comes from,” said Jean Halloran, who runs the food policy division for public watchdog Consumers Union. “Congress should not be intimidated by other countries’ efforts to water down our standards.”
Consumers Union is part of a coalition of nearly 300 agricultural, environmental, labor, religious, and other groups that have come together to demand that Congress protect COOL and your right to know where your food originated.
Ben Lilliston, who heads one such organization, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, has pointed out that laws like COOL exist around the world and that America is under no legal obligation to yield to a little whining from our neighbors. As Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) pointed out, letting Canada and Mexico force us to repeal important food safety measures like COOL is a direct attack “on our sovereignty.”
But that looks like it’s going to be a tough sell on Capitol Hill. The Senate is now considering a version of the COOL repeal and could act on it in a matter of weeks.
And that’s when we’ll see if President Obama was telling the truth when he claimed that “no trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws.”
So if this repeal attempt should pass the Senate, I’ll be watching to see if Obama is willing to put his veto pen where his mouth is. Because this is about more than protecting our trade interests — it’s about your right to know what you’re putting in your body.
Sources:
“Senate agriculture committee mulls options on COOL” Lydia Zuraw, June 26, 2015, Food Safety News, foodsafetynews.com
“Canadian hog farmers and Congress want to repeal a consumer labeling law. Here’s why.” Linda Qiu, July 2, 2015, Tampa Bay Times, politifact.com
