Every single item we purchase is labeled with where it is made. Why should meat be any different!! If you are a US citizen and raise livestock for meat or you consume meat purchased at a grocery store (which is most of you!!!) please read through this and contact your state reps! You as consumers have a right to choose and DEMAND USA RAISED MEAT!!! COOL Is Suddenly In Peril Current Status: The 2002 law that requires U.S. grocery stores to label beef, pork, chicken and lamb as to where it was born, raised and slaughtered - known as the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law - is suddenly in peril. Certain key members of Congress who are beholden to the multinational meat cartel, including House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), are actively working within the 2013 Farm Bill Conference Committee (Conference Committee) to craft language to severely weaken, if not fully repeal, COOL. The names of all the Conference Committee members are included below. Although this is not a partisan issue, the Republican leadership is clearly rattling their sabers and most of the Republican members of the Conference Committee are being encouraged to tow the line and oppose COOL. The Democrat members are remaining silent and some are even making overtures indicating that they dont intend to vigorously defend COOL. This spells disaster for COOL unless we can convince the Republican members of the Conference Committee to break ranks with their leadership and convince the Democrat members to begin actively supporting COOL. Background: Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a new COOL rule that brings COOL into compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) that ruled that the way COOL was being implemented was confusing to consumers. Indeed it was confusing as the old COOL rules allowed retailers to label meat from an animal that was exclusively born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States as a Product of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. The new COOL rule corrects this confusion by prohibiting retailers from using such a meaningless label on U.S. meat. The new COOL rule goes into full force and effect on November 23, 2013, at which time meat will be labeled as to where it was born, where it was raised, and where it was slaughtered. Retailers, meatpackers, and so-called livestock-producer groups like the National Cattlemens Beef Association (NCBA) and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), are vehemently opposed to the new COOL rule that gives such accurate information to consumers. Instead, they want consumer to remain confused about where they are obtaining the livestock that they use to produce the meat they offer for sale in U.S. grocery stores. Whats at Stake: Without COOL, consumers will not know if the meat they purchase for their families is from animals born and raised in a foreign country or born and raised right here in the United States of America. Obviously, if consumers cannot tell where their meat was produced, then U.S. livestock producers cannot ask consumers to choose their USA product to support their U.S. farms and ranches. No COOL means U.S. consumers are left in the dark and U.S. farmers and ranchers cannot compete against the mounting volume of imported products within their own domestic market. Immediate Action Needed: We need to literally light up the phones of every member of the Conference Committee and strongly urge - if not strongly demand - that they flatly reject the inclusion of any language in the 2013 Farm Bill that would repeal or weaken COOL. Below is a list of the 2013 Farm Bill Conferees. If your Senator or Representative is on this list, please call them immediately - and call them often - until they make a commitment to you that they will vigorously defend your right to know where your meat was born, raised and slaughtered. If you do not have either a Senator or Representative on the Conference Committee please pick two, three, or more Representatives and Senators and call them as a U.S. cattle producer and/or U.S. consumer to deliver your message that COOL must be preserved. When you call your Representative and/or Senator and are unable to talk to them personally, ask to speak with their Agriculture Assistant. If they too are unavailable, ask for their name and ask to leave a message on their phone. Talking to the first person that answers the phone is the least effective contact you can make (although sometimes it is the best that can be done). At the very least you need to try to talk to the agriculture staffer that actually works on the issues. You can reach every congressional office by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking for your Representative or Senator by name. Here are the conferees: House Conferees: Chairman Frank D. Lucas (R-Okla.), Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga), Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.), Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.); Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.). Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), Rep. Jim Costa Calif.), Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash), Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Calif.), and Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas); Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio). Senate Conferees: Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Max Baucus (D-MT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Michael Bennet (D-CO) Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-MS), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), John Boozman (R-AR), John Hoeven (R-ND)
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 04:22:00 +0000
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