PT 2 in my series of "Edwards Fights Injustice"."It Keep Me Up At Night" Today we add food safety to the list of what makes us a community and keeps us safe and secure or as the old adage goes, "healthy, wealthy, and wise". And John Edwards yesterday takes on some of the biggest behemoths, big Agribusiness and big food importers. Super!
Yesterday, Senator John Edwards and Congresswoman Stephanie Hersheth Sandlin (D-S.D.) talked to reporters about food safety and their support for more and better inspection of imported food and of Senator Edwards support of the 2002 Bill which mandated Country of Origin Labeling(COOL) for beef,pork,lamb, fish, perishable agriculture commodities and peanuts. (The fish and seafood part has already been implemented.)
"It’s time to stop the delays and stop giving in to big agribusiness and food importers,"said Edwards. "We need to give Americans the information they need to choose the best, and safest, food for their families."
"Senator Edwards grew up in rural America and understands the challenges we face, and that's reflected in his proposals to strengthen agriculture," Herseth Sandlin said. "We need the kind of presidential leadership he's offering, whether it's protecting our food supply, helping our agricultural producers, or revitalizing rural America."
I thank the Senator and Congresswoman who have joined those of us who have been working on the protection of our food supply for years. We could sure use the help. Some of this diary comes from my testimony in front of the Montana House Agriculture Committee in favor of COOL back in 2005. I started by saying,"Today I don't want to talk as a cattle rancher, but as a woman and a shopper. Women do most of the purchasing for their families and women read labels. (Yes, I know men are starting to get the hang of it). And when you Mess with Mom and she finally finds out, you are in big trouble. "It' not nice to fool Mother Nature" or any Mom for that matter.
When I look at a label and see that there's too much corn syrup in it, I don't buy it. If the blouse says"Made in China" or "Made in North Carolina, I have a choice. If the lamp says "tested by Underwriters Laboratory", I assume the light fixture won't shock me into tomorrow. And if the grapes come from Mexico, I just might want to give them an extra wash...or two. So when lots of our products have labels, why doesn't beef?
Funny thing is the average shopper, if you ask her, thinks that beef is labeled. She thinks USDA means that it's born and raised, like Bruce Springsteen, in the USA when all it means is that it is packed in the U.S. and deemed safe by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Could it be that those ads using the honest farmer in the bib overalls and the good looking rancher on his horse have been used to hoodwink Mom and Pop Shopper into thinking that they are getting genuine U.S. product when it could be coming from just about anywhere?
Like I said in my first dot diaryConnect the Dots, Edwards is not anti-business, he's anti- bad business. And it's bad business to have the circle of trust broken by poor inspections of foreign foods and poor support for our local food producers.
Trust is the cornerstone of a middle class market economy. Markets thrive on trust. In small towns and very large cities you usually know your local butcher and it is in his self interest to keep your business. But most folks live in the suburbs now and it's even getting harder and harder to find a local butcher or baker in small towns. We citizens ( I refuse to use the word "consumer") are being forced to rely on food market chains and the new bully-on-the-food-block, Wal-Mart. We have to "trust" that what's on the shelves and in the meat and produce sections are safe and healthy. They've always trusted that image of the hard working small farmer/rancher. In turn, the farmer/rancher has trusted the meat packers and retailers to process and sell the food he has labored over in a reliable way. That is the circle of trust needed in the market place, a truly free market. But that trust can also be exploited and corrupted; and when that happens anywhere in the chain, that circle is broken and trust is gone. Pet food scares, BSE (Mad Cow), hormones have now put Mom on alert. And unless we are straight with her soon, she's going to take her business elsewhere. Kids will be eating tofu burgers whether they like it or not because mothers will not put their children in harm's way if they know about it.
Here in Montana we couldn't wait for the national program so we passed a version of COOL here in 2005. We wanted to take control of our economic future, the safety of our health, and protection of our cattle herds. Now, thanks to forward thinkers and risk takers like Senator Edwards we can take the fight back to the national level.
As always, Senator Edwards has taken a look at what needs fixing and has straightforward ways to protect the American people from bad food and bad policies.
The Edwards plan would:
* Require Country-of-Origin labeling so that consumers have the option of choosing safe, American-raised meat and poultry and American-grown produce.
* Strengthen the FDA and consolidate responsibility for food inspections among the 15 agencies responsible for regulating our food supply.
* Allow the FDA and USDA to order mandatory recalls of unsafe foods much as the Consumer Products Safety Commission can do with other products.
* Strengthen inspections of imported food -- less than 1 percent of which is inspected today, down from 8 percent in 1992.
* Requiring safety systems abroad. Edwards will require countries exporting food to the U.S. have safety systems certified by the FDA as equivalent to our own, a level of protection that is now given only to meat, poultry and egg products.
Here's the link to the fact sheet on "Protecting America's Food and Implementing Country of Origin Labeling." COOL FACT SHEET
After years of work by folks like my neighbor Leo McDonnell (whole diary required on how one man can start a movement and take on the National Cattlemen's Beef Association) who helped found R-Calf in order to fight food monopolies and fight for implementation of Country of Origin Labeling, a COOL bill was finally passed in 2002. But the powerful opponents of COOL kept putting roadblocks in the way. Rules kept being re-written and the funding for such a program kept getting put off.
What are some of the arguments against COOL?
From the press release that I got from the United States Cattlemen's Associaton from Danni Beer and Leo McDonnell:
In recent weeks importers have spent $10,000 on an ad in Roll Call, a popular daily paper on Capitol Hill. The ad sends a false message that COOL is not needed or wanted by anyone. Additionally, opponents have created controversy by sending letters to producers threatening that documentation may be required to verify the origin of animals. Tactics like these were used in the past and were successful in delaying COOL
More info on the arguments against COOL and the complete COOL library is at:
COOL Info
Leo and Danni end the press release with:
U.S. cattle producers raise some of the finest beef in the world. We deserve the right to distinguish our product and consumers deserve the right to choose our product in retail cases.
How you can help? If you have good facts to forward to the USDA, here's where you send your comments. The deadline for comment period is August 20.
Again,from the United States Cattlemen's Association press release:
It is now our job to see to it that the original intent of the law is protected during this crucial comment period. It is critical that we all file comments supporting implementation of the law and that we make our case based on fact and truth as we proceed through the comment period, which ends August 20. (You can submit your comments several ways: 1. Fax them to 202/720-1112; 2. Mail them to COOL Program; Room 2607-S; AMS – USDA, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC 20250-0254 3. Over the internet at http://www.regulations.gov Comments specifically pertaining to information collection and record-keeping requirements should also be sent to the Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Bldg., 725 17th St. NW Room 725, Washington DC 20503).
COOL is just one part of the puzzle and part of the solution to globalization and the false assumption that we can only stand idly by and watch America sink further into third world status. COOL is opposed by the big packers and many of the big food retailers. That the real problem. Bigger isn't always better. Check out this story from the NYTimes in 2004 about what is happening in Central and South American when big chains with their processed foods spread from the rich suburbs to the poor towns: Supermarkets Crush Central American Farmers But one town in Guateamala is surviving because of the smarts and compassion of one man. He's another man like John Edwards who has it in for injustice.
Aj Ticonel sold $2.5 million worth of vegetables last year, but Mr. Monterroso, a sociologist and deal maker with a passion for justice, paid himself only $18,000. Most of the company's profits are plowed back into the plant, marketing campaigns and agricultural education for the farmers.
''I want a different country for my sons,'' Mr. Monterroso said. ''I'm trying to redistribute the wealth so people will live in harmony.''
"So people will live in Harmony", he says. How quaint. But isn't this what our founders were looking for. A place to "pursue happiness" where there was a balance between rich and the rest of the nation? Where everybody had a little something and we weren't so envious that we dragged people out of their cars. That's called a breakdown in society.
We fought a revolution in 1776 partly to fight the Wal-Mart of the time, the East Indian Company. Americans don't like monopolies and right now three companies process 80% of our meat. They have forced small packers out of business. They have removed your local butchers from the picture. This then in turns necessitates hauling cattle long distances which burns a lot of gas. So join the Buy Local movement. Now that might mean then that you won't buy Montana beef if you are in Connecticut. So then we ranchers here would start raising less beef and more wind and solar power maybe. We can be afraid or we can look at this as a new frontier. Hey, that would make a great slogan, the New Frontier. Already taken? So what, let's use it again.
So I shouldn't take up any more space: Further reading would be the September 11, 2006 issue of The Nation: The Food Issue. Nation's Food Issue
Another way to help is to join John Edwards is his campaign to take America back and support the backbone of this nation, the small business folks. Here's his battle cry
"Enough is enough. It's time to stop the delays and stop giving in to big agribusiness and food importers. We need to give Americans the information they need to choose the best, and safest, food for their families." – John Edwards
As Mary Elizabeth Lease, the great People's Party's Joan of Arc, yelled out over a hundred years ago, "It's time to raise less corn and more hell." That's what we all have to do, "Raise more hell".
We have the opportunity to become communities again instead of just a bunch of people living next to each other.
As we say in the editing room, "Cut to the Revolution".
Contribute and be COOL
UPDATE: I posted this story in the comments but it should be featured in the main body because it is a story of how local people can make a difference. You can fight back. And sometimes Republicans can do the right thing for their constituents. Well, sometimes.
The Montana Stockgrowers and the Farm Bureau fought us on COOL. We were able to pass it with the help of one lone Republican voting against the party line and it passed in the house 51 to 49 votes. That one lone rep was my rep. My neighbor Patty and other ranch women cornered him at several opportunities. The women of my county went up to Helena and served Montana beef burgers. The governor helped serve. Then they went up again with cookies made of Montana grain and other products with COOL on them. They were in the shape of cows. Patty pushed the tray of cookies up against Jack Ross, our rep, in the stairwell and said, "We're counting on you, Jack. Have a cookie." And we did it by one vote. Who says people can't make a difference?