by Amy Lesperance, NFU Intern Have you been at the butcher counter of your local grocery store and wondered about the Country-of-Origin-Labeling (COOL) stickers that say something like, “Product of Canada and the U.S.?” I often feel like I spend an inordinate amount of time at the grocery store mulling over the information included on … Read More
Speak Your Piece: Ethanol Fuels Recovery
The following was originally published on the Daily Yonder website on April 11, 2013. To read this story at its original source, click here. By Bob Dinneen | Roger Johnson | Tom Buis Editor’s Note: Yesterday four members of the House of Representatives introduced legislation to reduce the amount of renewable products such as ethanol … Read More
COOL: some are for it, some are not
by Daryll E. Ray and Harwood D. Schaffer, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN Read the original post at agpolicy.org. More than a decade after mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) was first included in the farm bill, the debate continues. Two weeks ago, we examined a legal opinion by the legal … Read More
What's new in the proposed AMS rule on COOL
by Daryll E. Ray and Harwood D. Schaffer, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN Read the original post at agpolicy.org. In response to the determination of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body that the U.S. “COOL [Country of Origin Labeling] requirements were inconsistent with the [WTO Technical Barriers to Trade] Agreement’s … Read More
The Truth about COOL
by Amy Lesperance, NFU Intern Farmers Union has always supported mandatory labeling as a promotional tool for our domestic producers to highlight the superiority of their products. American producers are proud of their products and want consumers to know when they are buying the best. In order to dispel some common misperceptions about Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), … Read More
A Diverse Show of Support for COOL
by Brittany Jablonsky, Director of Advocacy Communications Today NFU joined a diverse coalition of 228 other organizations in delivering a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging him to protect the integrity of Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) for meat products. Today’s letter demonstrates the broad-based support for sensible COOL rules. Organizations signing the letter spanned … Read More
Senate Passes a Budget
by Brittany Jablonsky, Director of Advocacy Communications On Saturday, the Senate passed a budget on a 50-49 vote, with four Democrats, Sens. Max Baucus, Mont., Mark Begich, Alaska, Mark Pryor, Ark., and Kay Hagan, N.C., joining all Republicans in voting no. The budget is non-binding, and is largely a reflection of the majority party’s priorities. … Read More
Policy of the National Farmers Union
March, 2013
COOL itself is not ruled illegal by WTO but finds label wording to be a problem
by Daryll E. Ray and Harwood D. Schaffer, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN Read the original post at agpolicy.org. On Friday, March 8, 2013, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a new rule to bring the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations into compliance with the July 2012 … Read More
They Used to Be Farmers, Now They're Hungry
by Roger Johnson, President This article was originally published in the March 2013 issue of Rooftops, the newsletter of the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger. Read it in its original form here. Senior hunger is a problem that doesn’t discriminate. Whether in the middle of a metropolitan food desert, or on the outskirts of … Read More