Do you know where your meat comes from? Do you only buy meat that has the “Product of the USA” label on it? Are you sure you know where your meat comes from?

Right now it is perfectly legal for a producer to import meat from other countries, process it in the United States, and then sell it as a “Product of the USA.” That’s right, you could be buying meat from China, Mexico, Brazil, or any other country around the world that is labeled as a product of the USA as long as the final processing occurs inside the United States.

However, the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and American Grassfed Association’s (AGA) have filed a petition with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to change the Food Safety and Inspection Services Standards (FSIS) and Labeling Policy Book on “Product of U.S.A.” (FSIS-2018-0024).

Marc Parrone, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) was quick to support this petition.

“Allowing meat that comes from outside our country to be sold as a U.S. product is misleading, unsafe and wrong. American consumers deserve to know where their meat comes from.” “Updating current labeling requirements will not only bring families more certainty about the meat they are serving or eating, it will create and protect sustainable jobs for hard-working communities across the country.” “Our union family strongly supports this petition and encourages the USDA to do the same.”

The American cattle market has taken a hit over the last few years as the nation faced sustained droughts. In the wake of the droughts, ranchers were faced with burned-up pastures and high feed prices, which forced them to send their female heifers to slaughter rather than to retain them for breeding and herd rebuilding. Consequently, the U.S. cattle herd fell to its lowest level since 1941, causing nine beef processing plants to shut down and the loss of thousands of good beef packing jobs.

This petition, which would also put back the recently repealed “Country-of-Origin-Labeling (COOL) law,” would help ranchers rebuild “the U.S. cattle herd and bolster additional good, family-sustaining jobs in meat processing” said the UFCW.

There are other reasons to support this petition. In June of 2017, the Trump Administration was forced to institute a ban on all Brazilian beef imports after USDA border inspections revealed that the meat was rotten and contaminated. USDA inspectors also rejected 1.9 million pounds or about 11% of Brazilian beef imports in the wake of 20 Brazilian meat inspectors being arrested for taking bribes.

Independent auditors had already documented the shortcomings of this FSIS program prior to this scandal, but this Brazilian scandal provides even more evidence of the dramatic failure of the USDA’s FSIS foreign plant equivalency program to protect food safety.

The failed program also poses an unprecedented threat to the entire U.S. beef sector, which could be further decimated should contamination from comingled Brazilian beef cause a loss of consumer confidence in the U.S. beef supplies.

As it stands now, consumers have no way of differentiating U.S. from Brazilian beef. If the U.S. beef supply were to be contaminated with comingled Brazilian beef, many consumers may simply stop buying beef all together. This could cause irreparable harm to the beef sector and could result in more plant shutdowns and the loss of even more good-paying, sustainable jobs.

A recent study shows that American consumers really want to know where their food comes from and support better labeling.

“An overwhelming majority of respondents (91 percent) say it’s important to them to know where their food comes from, but nearly two-thirds (62 percent) say they’re not provided with enough information about what’s in their food and its origins.”

“Consumers are demanding more information and want reassurances that the foods they’re eating are safe – and originating from reliable sources,” said Chris Morrison, CMO of Trace One who conducted the study.

Please take a moment to enter in your own comments on this proposed change by Friday, August 17th at 11:59pm at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FSIS-2018-0024-0001

You can view the full petition from the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and American Grassfed Association’s (AGA) at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FSIS-2018-0024-0001

Matt Murray is the creator and an author on the NH Labor News. He is a union member and advocate for labor and progressive politics. He also works with other unions and members to help spread our message. Follow him on Twitter @NHLabor_News

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