Often when the topic of eating local comes up it revolves around the concern for supporting local food producers and not having food transported from one end of the country to the other. But it is only recently that we could (on a limited basis) expect to find labels on produce signifying the country of origin. An incredibly high percentage of produce is imported into the U.S. from other countries to satisfy the American desire for fresh produce regardless of the season. The largest number of foreign produce comes in between December and April for just that reason.
On May 13, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, more commonly known as the 2002 Farm Bill. Part of the Bill requires country of origin labeling (COOL) for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts.
But:
"On January 27, 2004, President Bush signed Public Law 108-199 which delays the implementation of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006. As described in the legislation, program implementation is the responsibility of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service." (Agricultural Marketing Service website)
On Saturday night I found myself in Wegman's to pick up household cleaning supplies, and before long I was browing the organic produce section. Above one section of vegetables was a huge sign with photographs. The sign announced the name of a northeastern farm and showed photos of fields and farmers. The farm was in Pennsylvania.
At first I thought, "Good for Wegman's for highlighting the farmers!" But then I wondered why the farm wasn't located in New York State. Are there no regional, organic farms large enough to supply a supermarket? I'm sure there are. But this is a good first step, I suppose. Everytime I go into Wegman's I always ask the produce manager about why the organic veggies are not coming from a local farm and when I'm told there aren't any, I then tell him about the many farms that supply food to our local co-op (you'll see many of them listed on the side bar to the left.)
What will be a wonderful thing is when all the produce in Wegman's (and other large markets) is labeled with its place of origin. This will help us to know not only if we are supporting local growers, but it will tell us how many thousands of miles (or passports) were needed to get the food to us.
Check out these websites for more infomation about COOL Legislation:
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