Illinois Farmers Union: Consumers want to buy local, and producers are proud to provide the information

[October 17, 2015]  SPRINGFIELD - Congress recognized the trend that consumers loved the idea of buying and eating food that is grown locally, and it passed a food labeling law known as Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), explained Illinois Farmers Union President Norbert Brauer in recently.

“This highly popular and common sense law has resulted in many of the fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole cuts of meat sold at retail being labeled with the name of the country where the food was produced, providing consumers with basic information they want about the food they eat,” he explained.

Brauer pointed out that unfortunately, common sense isn’t always so common. The popular labeling law survived multiple challenges by the multi-national meatpackers in Federal Court only to fall prey to an official trade dispute filed by our chief trade competitors, Canada and Mexico, at the World Trade Organization (WTO). In response to fears of economic retaliation being considered by the WTO, he explained, the U.S. House of Representatives repealed the law, and the fate of COOL is now in the hands of the U.S. Senate.

“The idea of wanting to know where your food comes from is not limited to the United States. European consumers demanded food labeling after they found out that the ‘beef’ they were consuming was actually imported and mislabeled horsemeat. The European Union is now labeling its meat products with their country of origin, and Australia has plans to do the same.”
Brauer pointed to a recent University of Arkansas study released just weeks ago found that food labeled with its country of origin “appears to provide consumers with additional information that has both direct and indirect effects on purchase intentions.”

“COOL is good public policy because it’s just common sense that parents want to know as much as possible about what they are putting into their mouths, and the mouths of their children,” he said. “Some consumers want to eat locally, purchasing Illinois sweet corn and tomatoes, while others don’t care if their food comes from Peoria, Illinois or Puebla, Mexico.”

“Thankfully, a handful of U.S. senators have stood strong against the notion of repeal and have forged an option in the Senate that would head off moves to completely repeal the COOL law.

The new alternative would retain the framework of the original COOL law, while bringing it into WTO compliance by making COOL voluntary for beef and pork. This should not only appease the objections of our trading partners, given Canada already has a voluntary labeling program on the books and some Canadian pork producers have publicly stated that a voluntary U.S. program would satisfy them, but also give consumers who want to support their local farmers the option to do so.”

He noted that Canada and Mexico have both already suggested the adoption of a voluntary system in the 2012 WTO Appellate Body Report, and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) also noted that repealing the mandatory requirement and replacing it with a voluntary system has the "potential to constitute compliance with U.S. WTO obligations.” That gives voluntary COOL the “thumbs up” from every corner.

This bill would avoid the multinational meatpacker and foreign lobbyist-driven call for a complete repeal and ensure that the framework for accurate food labeling remains on the books. It’s a far better option than complete repeal of COOL.

Brauer urges Illinois consumers and farmers to let their elected officials know how important food labeling is. “We need to push our Illinois senators to support voluntary food labeling,” he said.

[Rob Davies]