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Billings Gazette – Sunday – August 12, 2007
Debate over COOL back on front burner
By
McClatchy Newspapers
PEORIA,
Ill. - The COOL debate has picked up where it left off.
Country of origin labeling, a bone of contention for the meat industry, is back
on the table.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reopened public comment on the
measure through Aug. 20. Approved as part of the 2002 farm bill but never funded
by Congress, the labeling requirement is now set to become law on Sept. 30,
2008.
In the wake of recent outbreaks of tainted food from China, some critics don't
want to wait. "What does it take for the American people to know where their
food comes from?" asked Fred Baker, a rancher from Streator, Ill.
Baker
noted that Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America,
a group representing cattle producers based in Billings, is pushing for COOL's
passage over opposition from groups like the American Meat Institute and
National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
"R-CALF fought for and won mandatory COOL in the 2002 farm bill. Now, five years
later, the law is implemented for fish but not for beef," said R-CALF CEO Bill
Bullard.
A recent survey by Consumer Reports noted that 92 percent of Americans want to
know the origin of the food they purchase.
But some say those overwhelming numbers don't represent the whole story.
"Consumers vote with their pocketbook," said Jim Fraley, livestock program
director for the Bloomington-based Illinois Farm Bureau, a group favoring
voluntary labeling.
But Fraley said designating origin could be an advantage. "I noticed one
fast-food chain that sells hamburgers talking about buying only U.S. beef.
That's one of their selling points. New Zealand lamb is recognized as a
high-quality product. It's used as a marketing tool," he said.
For Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct in Colorado Springs, Colo., the
importance of labeling can't be overstated. "It's all about knowing where the
food comes from," he said.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/08/12/news/business/45-debates.txt
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