Hey, gang!
I know it’s been a while. Some big-time travel and amazing adventures took me away from the keyboard. But more on that later, because this post has an expiration date of tomorrow!
My last post on the myth of cow-burps and global warming got lots of positive feedback and some thought-provoking comments. Rich pointed out that buying local, sustainable beef isn’t doable for many people, because it’s so much more expensive than the grocery store stuff. Ed made another great point, that the methane argument may not be a good one, but what about the huge swaths of the Brazilian rain forest that are being destroyed for beef production?
Now you may be thinking, as I was, “But I don’t eat Brazilian beef, so what’s it got to do with me?” And then, after a dramatic pause for effect, “…Or do I?” So down the rabbit-hole I went.
an awful lotta coffee
The story of Brazilian ag companies destroying rain forests for beef production has been all over the news in recent years. That situation arose from several factors, including (1) the lax to nonexistent environmental policies of former president Jair Bolsonaro, and (2) a 2006 European moratorium on soy from the Amazon — formerly the main driver of deforestation — that prompted many of those farmers to switch to beef.
And you might assume, from headlines like “Demand for Meat is Destroying the Amazon” that cattle are the main driver of deforestation worldwide. And if so, you might be surprised by this graph from a recent article in Carbon Brief showing that beef actually only accounts for about 5% of deforestation, at least as far as EU imports are concerned.
The larger point of this article is that the EU has just passed legislation that goes beyond Brazilian soy to outlaw imports of a large number of products that can be linked to deforestation, which is awesome news. That, along with a recent pledge by new Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, means we’re moving in the right direction.
“Phew!” I said. “But anyway, we here in the good ol’ US of A have our own home-grown beef, and the only thing we burn to get it is some good ol’ charcoal on the grill. Right???”
origin stories
Here’s a thought experiment: think back to the last time you bought fish at the supermarket — let’s say, salmon. Where did it come from? Alaska? Norway? The Atlantic? Chances are, the package gave you this info, even if you didn’t pay much attention to it. Here, for example, is some frozen salmon I bought at Aldi:
Not only do I know where it came from, but how is was raised and caught. Why do the good folks at Aldi share this information? Because they’re nice guys? No. It’s because it’s the law of the land. The USDA’s Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations says that this info must be shared with the customer. The same is true for “fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts; and ginseng.”
And when the law went into effect in 2005, it also covered “muscle cut and ground meats: lamb, goat, and chicken.” But in 2016, the USDA changed course, exempting those products from the COOL regulations. Why? According to the memo on the agency’s website, “The Agency is issuing this rule to conform with amendments to the Act contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016.”
You may not remember that one, but at the time it was called the “Omnibus Spending Bill” and it was passed at the end of 2015, after months of back-and-forth between Congress and the Obama administration over spending, and even a close call on a total government shutdown. News outlets talked about how the bill contained more money for the military and veterans and NASA, and tax cuts on Medicare. I don’t recall any headlines about meat labeling, but apparently this change was snuck through on the back of that spending bill. (Talk about pork barrel politics!) (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Ok, so if you’re still awake at this point, here’s what the COOL regs mean for you: You can walk into a store, buy a package of beef or pork or chicken, and have no idea where it came from. Even if it has a label like this one:
That shiny, red-white-and blue badge saying “USDA Choice?” It speaks to the quality of the meat, not where it came from. You could be eating meat from Brazil, or anywhere else on the planet, without even knowing it. Even if your burger (or chicken, or pork chop) says “Product of the USA,” that simply means it was processed in the United States. It may have been born, raised, and slaughtered anywhere else in the world.
This gets to the heart of both Rich’s and Ed’s questions. Locally-sourced meat, raised the right way, is always going to have trouble competing with cheap imports. And do I know that my VIC-special $9.99/lb London broil is innocent of deforestation? No I do not.
time for change
I can’t help but wonder why Congress would pass something like this. We all know that money is the grease that keeps the wheels of DC politics moving, so you have to ask, who benefits? Certainly not American farmers and ranchers, who now have to compete with big, global food corporations with one hand tied behind their backs.
But there is something we can do about it, beyond simply voting with our wallets. As we speak, the USDA is considering changes to the “Product of USA” labeling requirements. According to the agency, “The proposed rule allows the voluntary ‘Product of USA’ or ‘Made in the USA’ label claim to be used on meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States.” And according to their own research, this is something that consumers care about.
I think this is a good idea. Not perfect — really, we need the full COOL requirements to apply to all meats — but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures, says “Right now, our laws allow global corporations to import meat, repackage it, and pass it off as a higher-quality product raised by U.S. farmers and ranchers.” This policy would put a stop to that practice.
What can you do to help? You can click here to comment on the proposed regulation. Tell the suits here in Washington that you stand with American farmers and ranchers and think this rule change is good idea. It won’t keep those other meats out of the grocery store, but at least you’d know what you are getting.
But here’s the urgent part - the comment period ends tomorrow, June 11! So if you’ve hung in there this long, and you’ve opened this email early enough, please click here and submit a quick comment. I just did, and it took me all of 60 seconds.
Thanks!