Where does your food come from?
October 13th, 2008 by Brent Hild
There are mushroom farms in Pennsylvania? Pepper farms in Massachusetts? Who knew I could learn so much just by wandering the fresh produce section of my local Whole Foods? As it turns out, it isn’t just Whole Foods who is labeling where their food originates…
On August 31st, 2008 the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law went into effect. As a result, supermarkets have six months (until April 2009) to comply with the USDA law and label the country of origin for “beef, veal, lamb, chicken, pork, goat, wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts.” Now consumers will know where some of their food actually originates.
The COOL law doesn’t apply to all products. Processed foods, mixed foods (ex: trail mix), and a litany of other foods aren’t covered by this legislation such as sausage which comes from a variety of sources (i.e. “mystery meat”). A full list of products not covered by the new law can be seen at the FAQ link at the bottom of the page.
The benefits of this new law are many:
1. There is now transparency and traceability on the foods we eat. If there are health and safety problems like we had earlier this summer with Jalapeño peppers, it makes it easier to determine the root cause and easier to protect the consumer.
2. For an environmentally-minded consumer, products made locally have a smaller environmental impact than those made thousands of miles away in another country.
3. Finally, from an economic standpoint, COOL allows U.S. consumer to support domestic farmers and ranchers.
For more information visit the USDA.gov website and take a look at the COOL FAQ: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5071922