Published January 24, 2022

The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance joins our allies in conducting a COOL Week of Action, January 24-28! Organizations across the country are using this week to ask their members and friends to put the pressure on U.S. Senators to reinstate Country-of-Origin Labeling on beef.

We’ve alerted you on COOL issues before, but to refresh your memory, you may have noticed that the labels on many foods in the grocery store include what country the food comes from. You can choose to buy tomatoes from Texas or Mexico.  Because of labels, you know if your apples come from the U.S. or Canada.

But that’s not true for beef and pork. Country of Original Labeling (COOL) has been missing from beef and pork since 2015, since the World Trade Organization claimed that it was a “trade barrier” – and Congress caved to the international pressure, repealing mandatory COOL on pork and beef.

For people who buy their meat directly from local farmers, this may not seem like a big deal – after all, you know where your meat comes from, far better than any label could ever tell you!

But it’s still an important issue for everyone: farmers and consumers, conventional and holistic. Imports (grass-fed beef included) often create unfair price pressure and mislead consumers about the real costs of raising food in this country. While many American consumers are willing to pay more to support domestic food production, they simply don’t know what to buy at the stores in order to do so. And the more American ranchers get squeezed in the conventional system, the more we lose vital infrastructure that is critical to rebuilding local and regional food production.

The American Beef Labeling Act of 2021 will reinstate mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) for beef. Mandatory COOL guarantees consumers know where their beef was born, raised, slaughtered, and processed. It also helps create a level playing field for American ranchers because it helps them get a fair price. Ten Senators, from both parties, have signed on to this bill: Senators John Thune (R-SD), Jon Tester (D-MT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Hoeven (R-ND), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM). John Barrasso (R-WY), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

To get more Senators to join, they need to hear from us! Join us for a COOL Week of Action, January 24-28.

TAKE ACTION

Call both your U.S. Senators and urge them to co-sponsor S. 2716!

You can look up who your Senators are at https://secure.everyaction.com/p/I3mEazX3_kitVjsKjTOvCg2.

SAMPLE SCRIPT:

Hi, my name is ___ and I live in {city, state}.  I am calling to urge Senator ___ to join their bipartisan colleagues in sponsoring S.2716 to provide transparency for consumers and support American ranchers.

S.2716 would reinstate mandatory Country of Origin Labeling for beef, so that consumers can choose if they want to support American ranchers by buying beef that was born, raised, and processed in our country. It’s ridiculous that we have COOL for our clothes, but not our meat!

I urge my Senator to sign on to S.2716.

You can also send a similar message by email. You can find your Senators’ contact pages here.  Be sure to personalize the email – personal messages have a far greater impact than form letters!

MORE INFORMATION

You can read S. 2716 at https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2716/text\.

FARFA was one of more than 400 organizations, small businesses, ranchers, and individuals from all across the United States, who sent a letter to the full Senate last week supporting S. 2716.