
Farm Action Applauds USDA Effort to Improve “Antibiotic-Free” Labeling Oversight
Farm Action’s President Angela Huffman says this plan could prevent fraud that deceives consumers and stunts the growth of local and regional food systems.
Food labels are a critical component of our food economy.
Often the only form of communication between farmers and consumers, labels affect a farmer’s ability to earn a fair price for their products. Americans increasingly prefer to buy from nearby farmers using sustainable practices, so transparent labels also support the growth of resilient local and regional food systems.
We believe that labels should say where food comes from and be honest about how it was produced.
And yet all too often, global corporations like Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods use misleading labels and claims to sell generic or imported products at a premium while our government looks the other way.
To combat this deception, we are taking two prongs of attack: implementing clear country of origin labeling policies and fighting corporate deception directly.
Current policy allows imported beef to be labeled “Product of USA” if it was simply “repackaged or otherwise processed” in the United States. Farm Action is working to change this — and you can too!
“Buying American” is an increasingly important value to U.S. consumers, and truthful country of origin labels provide grocery shoppers with enough information to support American farmers. Farm Action has long pursued the goal of clear country of origin labeling, which can be achieved through action by Congress, USDA, and FTC.
The Farm Action team takes this issue seriously: when we see corporations using fraudulent practices, we take strategic action to hold them accountable. We are fighting for the fair rules and level playing field that will give independent farmers and ranchers a chance to thrive.
Retail conglomerates know that consumers are willing to pay more for meat labeled “Organic” or “Antibiotic Free,” and have been caught using deceptive labels to get that extra profit.
When an investigation revealed antibiotics in cattle and meat from a USDA-approved no-antibiotics labeling program sold by Whole Foods, we sent a letter to USDA demanding an investigation of the entire Whole Foods supply chain, including the retail stores, slaughter plants, and feedlots that claimed to produce antibiotic-free meat.
When corporations lie, people can get sick, cheaters profit, and farmers working hard to comply with the rules lose money and market opportunities.
Farm Action continues working diligently with our network of farmers to expose the harms of deceptive labeling, and will hold corporations and the USDA accountable.
Mike Callicrate, a Colorado rancher and rural advocate, spoke about what this kind of labeling deception does to farmers in a video and guest blog post produced jointly with the organization Farm Forward.
While Smithfield Foods relies on marketing terms like “sustainable” and “highest environmental standards,” its products actually come from extremely unsustainable, industrialized production and processing facilities with long and ongoing records of environmental degradation.
This ongoing deception tricks consumers, stealing market opportunities from farmers who are actually implementing sustainable and environmentally-sound practices.
Farm Action and a coalition of national and regional research, policy, and advocacy organizations filed a complaint with the FTC arguing that Smithfield routinely makes false and misleading claims about the sustainability of its pork products and the company’s environmental record.
Farm Action’s President Angela Huffman says this plan could prevent fraud that deceives consumers and stunts the growth of local and regional food systems.
The rule would enable consumers to find meat products bred and raised in the U.S., shifting spending toward independent producers and growing local economies.
The USDA’s proposed “Product of U.S.A.” label rule would help “stop the cheaters picking the pockets of America’s farmers and ranchers,” said Farm Action’s Joe Maxwell.
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