This would have seemed an opportune moment to move ahead with Country of Origin Labeling for all meats, scheduled to take effect at the end of this month under federal law. But some of the biggest players in the meat industry formed the Meat Promotion Coalition and hired a lobbying firm to see that the regulation was delayed until 2008, even though 86 percent of the public says it wants to know where its meat comes from, according to a survey published in The Packer, the newspaper of the beef industry. Cargill, Tyson Food, the National Cattlemen’s Association and the National Pork Producers Council are the best known members of the coalition, which says the labeling costs too much.

Et Tu, Ben and Jerry?

First Chicago banned the sale of foie gras. Then Whole Foods stopped selling live lobster. Now Ben and Jerry’s has pledged not to use eggs that come from a farm that the Humane Society of the United States has accused of being cruel to its laying hens. Animal rights activists are on a roll. While they pursue high-profile cases they are also signing up farmers who, in exchange for taking a pledge to treat their animals humanely, are permitted to label their products “Certified Humane.”

In its latest efforts on behalf of animals, the Humane Society has shamed Ben and Jerry’s into changing to eggs from cage-free hens by calling the company hypocritical for criticizing “giant industrial farming operations” on its Web site.

Meanwhile, back in Chicago, the Illinois Restaurant Association, along with other interested parties, has sued the city to halt enforcement of the foie gras ban.

And Whole Foods is reportedly building special housing to make lobsters more comfortable in its stores so its customers won’t have to go elsewhere to buy them.