Where Your Food Comes From

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/23/opinion/23FRI2.html?th

 

January 23, 2004Where Your Food Comes From

There are plenty of things wrong with the omnibus appropriations bill passed by

the Senate yesterday afternoon. It was stuffed with pork. It had been doctored

behind the scenes. It made a mockery of Congressional debate. And, almost as a

matter of course, it represented the victory of powerful industry interests with

political clout in the Bush administration. Among those interests were food

processors and grocery chains, which succeeded in delaying a country-of-origin

labeling plan authorized by the 2002 farm bill. That is a significant defeat for

farmers and consumers alike.

 

The administration has carefully chosen which parts of the farm bill it wants to

support. Some parts — notably commodity payments to big producers — have quickly

gone into effect. But others, including country-of-origin labeling, have turned

out to be empty promises.

 

The plan is simple. It would require retailers to identify the national origin

of a number of food products, including most meat, fish, peanuts and fresh

produce. But the omnibus bill would delay labeling for all products except wild

fish for two years — a delay that could kill the law for good.

 

Shoppers face supermarkets full of food products from all around the globe

without any way of being certain where they come from. Given the choice, many of

those shoppers would choose to buy American, one big reason why farmers and

consumer groups support labeling. The strongest opposition has come from retail

grocery chains and food processor organizations, which argue that labeling would

be a burdensome and costly imposition.

 

Polls have shown overwhelming consumer support for origin labeling, which is

already practiced by many of America's agricultural trading partners. By itself,

labeling would do nothing to diminish the need to improve food safety here and

abroad, nor would it do anything to change the political and structural

impediments to greater food safety. But it would have been another important

step, at minimal cost, in helping to educate Americans about their food supply.

Instead, we got a chance yesterday to see exactly what the major food industry

groups want for American consumers. They want ignorance.

 

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

 

 

 

 

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