(photo by Mary R. Vogt courtesy of morguefile.com)

A trade organization representing thousands of U.S. cattle producers, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), has joined dozens of other organizations to request that Congress include sufficient funds in the Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately implement mandatory country-of-origin labeling.

R-CALF USA worked successfully to pass mandatory country-of-origin labeling in 2002. That legislation reserves the USA label for only cattle born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States.

According to the letter, food imports have more than doubled since 2000, and the amount of that food inspected has fallen to 40%.

The letter states,

The integrity and safety of the nation’s food supply is in serious jeopardy with our citizens eating an amalgam of food produced elsewhere, with no idea of its source…It is critically important that our food consumers be provided with information on the source of the food because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA have not established a food safety inspection system sufficient to deal adequately with the tidal wave of food imports included in our food supply…

Mothers and fathers in the U.S. want to feed their children wholesome and safe food, but cannot do so when the food industry fights origin information…Our domestic food safety system, with all its flaws, exceeds that of virtually all other countries…The industry’s claim that labeling is irrelevant to food safety has now become absurd. Many other countries simply do not have our food production and processing regulatory standards, nor do they have the regulatory capacity to enforce even those laws that do exist…

Consumers do not want to, and cannot, rely entirely on the government…A meaningful first step is to immediately implement mandatory country of origin labeling for meat and produce. Consumer choice is irrevocably connected with consumer safety.

Mandatory country of origin labeling was approved by Congress in 2002, has been implemented successfully for seafood, and should no longer be delayed by special interests…Now is clearly the time to fully implement this measure to provide U.S. consumers with critically important information about the integrity and safety of their food choices.

To learn more about the organization and its work visit its official web site: Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America