John Tsitrian doesn’t think country-of-origin labeling (COOL) makes much business sense for meatpackers. He’s worked in cattle, and he considers COOL “burdensome and unnecessary.” Yet even he is willing to accede to the demands of consumers who want to know where their meat comes from, and he wonders why our Congressional delegation did nothing to preserve COOL and instead let the budget deal repeal COOL:
I’m a little steamed about how the COOL repudiation got stuck into this thing, as I believe our Congressional delegation owes it to their ranching community’s voters to put this out as a separate item, worthy of consideration on its own merits. Slipping it inside a budget bill is chicken manure, and I’m surprised and perplexed as to why Noem, Rounds and Thune seem to have let it slide. Where was the vigorous defense of COOL, a cornerstone of ranching industry economics that also just happens to be favored by 93% of American consumers? [John Tsitrian, “Not COOL. South Dakota Ranchers Get Stiffed By Noem, Rounds And, Sort Of, Thune,” The Constant Commoner, 2015.12.21]
Hey, Paula Hawks and as-yet-unnamed Democratic challenger to Thune—you’re taking notes on this, right?
South Dakota Stockgrowers Bill Kluck doesn’t say chicken manure, but he crows disapprovingly of the COOL repeal:
We’re disgusted with the politics that have led to this repeal. It’s just crazy that we can label car parts and diamonds and t-shirts, but we aren’t allowed to tell you where your steak is from. It makes no sense to me,” said Stockgrowers President Bill Kluck. “As it now stands, COOL is gone on all beef and pork products, so our customers won’t be able to know where tha t food is from. Losing these labels is a huge loss for our customers but also for us as producers. We’re producing high quality products and we now have no way to distinguish our beef from that of 20 some countries that are importing beef to the states [Bill Kluck, press release, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, 2015.12.21].
Note that Thune did vote against the overall budget deal, which passed 65-33 last week, but Thune still made sure he got in the picture with Senator McConnell and the other leaders to celebrate the budget deal. Rounds and Noem voted for it. Stockgrowers’ marketing chair Vaughn Meyer tries to give Thune a little credit:
It is very disheartening to realize our national Congressional leaders would rush to appease a WTO tribunal rather than defend the rights of United States consumers to choose safe and wholesome beef and pork products. It is also very disappointing that our Congressmen and Congresswomen would sacrifice U S sovereignty through these free-trade agreements.…SD Stockgrowers are very proud of Senator Thune for recognizing the many perils lurking within the 2016 Omnibus Spending Bill. His refusal to not support legislation which stripped South Dakota farmers and ranchers of COOL and their rights to label their products was a very noble decision [Vaughn Meyer, press release, SDSA, 2015.12.21].
The death of COOL hides American livestock grown with hormones and antibiotics while protecting GOP donors: it’s just that simple.
Vaughan really shows why stockgrowers will get zip from Thune or any of the rest of the owners bagmen. ” …SD Stockgrowers are very proud of Senator Thune for recognizing the many perils lurking within the 2016 Omnibus Spending Bill” When you suck up like that after you have been socked in the gut, it just makes them want to hit you harder. Talk about democrats being weak tea, Vaughn shows just what a wet noodle really is.
John T. has a set pattern when it comes to these odious agreements that are really detrimental to South Dakota. Take the TPP as another example, he sings its glory while it strips us even further of our rights to challenge the owners regarding anything of significance. The arbitration clauses that are set in the plan are downright anti-American in that you have no say in how trade is done and if you are harmed by this, tough luck. Now with COOL as well. I do see a silver lining in this bill that Thune voted against for his own pocket moolah, and that is that we should do like some of us do already, buy from local meat markets. Dakota Rural Action is a great organization that has a directory of where you can purchase local meats. It includes beef, pork, chickens, goats, lamb and even rabbits.
Challengers should be asking this triad of congresscritters exactly how much did they pocket from this vote and was it worth it to stick it to producers.
The S.D. Cattlemen’s Association website says nothing about COOL. I expect as much from these GOP ass kissers. They got mad when then-Gov. Mike Rounds harassed them with State Troopers on the branding board spat, but they eventually rolled over. No doubt the nutless wonders rallied their folks to reward Rounds with a seat in the U.S. Senate and will be cheering Thune on to win a third term.
The S.D. Stockgrowers Association’s statement expresses the right outrage but fails to finger the homegrown Judases who didn’t put up a fight for COOL.
I understand the need to be diplomatic because they might need the congressional team’s help on another issue someday. But how do they expect the public to get excited if the top two organizations won’t put the blame where it belongs on a vote that will damage their industry?
COOL adds to the costs of meatpackers. It is absurd to think they don’t recover that cost by paying ranchers less and consumers more. Many if not most ranchers have come to believe COOL drives consumers away from beef/pork to other forms of protein.
The relevant question is whether consumers get sufficient benefit from the labeling remembering imported beef has to conform to USDA standards.
American livestock is poison.
Buy your protein from local sources you know.
I understand passing a law not mandating it, because it could be more expensive for certain packers who would then have to have separate lines at the slaughter house and to make sure that it is USA beef compared to foreign beef, and so on. But I’m kinda surprised (at least my understanding of it), that it won’t be allowed at all.
At the end of the day, I buy the cheapest beef/pork/etc. out there. But I know people who want to know that it is USA beef. And that is what kinda surprised me.
The one thing I’d like to know is which lobbyist pushed for this? Was it the meet packers themselves? Was it foreign beef companies? Etc. I’m just not really sure how that worked its way into the bill.
Broken clock Thune gets praise for voting against SD consumers and ranchers w/o having to explain what he was voting against. Maybe he was voting against COOL? Ever consider that?
Thune represents the one percent, and attendance at basketball games.Imagine if he put that time in for seniors or vets,but then again he would just take photo ops.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-30/country-of-origin-labelling-us-experience/6353514
I want to know as much about the food I serve to kids as I can. I want to know if it contains GMO’s and I want to know what country protein comes from. Any country that values it’s cuisine does this and USA is now on the wrong side of history.
“That’s completely unacceptable. Consumers want more information about their food, not less.” said Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/house-votes-to-remove-country-of-origin-labels-on-meat-sold-in-u-s-1433990294
Technically it is CoOl-Country of Origin Labeling. Shame on us.
andn now a word from Marco Rubio who railed against the spending bill then didn’t bother to show up to vote. When CBS News asked him why he didn’t bother to go vote against the spending package …
Asked why he wouldn’t make his point about the spending package by physically being on Capitol Hill, Rubio said his message was clear.
“In essence, not voting for it, is a vote against it,” said Rubio.
I am not sure COOL did anything for the producer. Time will tell if this program had value or not.
It is kinda of fun to see the same people who supported Noem, Rounds, and Thune get snubbed in the end. Time to vote these three out.
Senator John Randolph Thune finds time to waste, when it comes to ill fated attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but when it comes to saving Country-of-origin labeling, however, he shows no apparent interest in trying to save it… And this fact is very unfortunate for the producers and consumers in South Dakota and throughout the country.
Let’s hope we get some honest GOP candidates to primary Thune and Noem.
Lot of anger towards them for all the betrayal on recent votes.
Disgusted, the GOP spin blog has been slagging us Dems for not announcing a candidate yet and claiming that it’s too late for a serious candidate to enter. I don’t think we have to follow a campaign calendar prescribed by the opposition, but let me ask you: do you think a Republican can enter the primary field and mount an effective challenge against Thune or Noem in the next couple months? If that anger for that betrayal is out there, why aren’t we hearing it? Where are the vocal critics who would take on the challenge you hope for?
CAH, Actual Republicans are disgusted with Rounds, Noem, and a lessor part, Thune. Thune has been cagey about helping the establishment sell out the base. He’ll help them along by voting for cloture, and then will vote against a bill (if #’s allow) so he can stay under the radar.
There are just too many apathetic and ill informed voters not paying attention to the RINO betrayals and taking on the $12 million special interests campaign chest Thune has amassed, is even harder.
Not good news for anyone that is disgusted with these corrupt RINOs
Who will you vote for?? My family has been in the cattle business for four generations now. I cannot believe these people voted in to office to protect our best interests have voted for this
bill. I want to support SD producers – not someone from China or elsewhere that we do not have a clue what they feed their product. We have just begun to see the results of antibiotics, hormones, and other additives are doing to our health. Then these people just blow that off. Who is feeding them from the money trough – certainly can’t believe that anyone from SD believe this in their best interest.