The End of COOL

January 9, 2017 Another thing I forgot to mention is how and why Americans can’t tell where our meat comes from. This detail has to do with the loss of country-of-origin-labeling, or COOL, that we lost just last year. Beginning in 2002, with the 2002 Farm Bill, USDA required labels that told where the meat was born, raised and slaughtered. So, at the grocery store, there were signs and labels. My favorite store had a big sign that said, “U.S.A.” over the beef, pork and chicken case and then the details on labels on each piece. But the WTO said that was an anti-trade label and our neighbors in Canada and Mexico threatened to sue or put sanctions on us if we didn’t stop that anti-trade labeling. Those two neighbors send a lot of meat into the U.S., and they didn’t want American consumers picking all-U.S. products. The WTO ruled against the labeling program four times. Canada and Mexico threatened $3 billion annually in sanctions that would put extra costs on our imports of wheat, wine, furniture and (gasp) chocolate! Some of the big commodity groups supported repeal, because of course there’s more profit in selling meats from other places rather than paying American growers a fair price. And those commodity groups are managed by the big corporations now. So, bottom line, I emphasize that you need to find a local grower for your meats if you want to have a clue where it comes from. Your local grower can tell you all about his/her growing strategies and even take you to the field where your critters (and future meatballs, t-bones or chicken breasts) are grazing!