Well there fellow readers, I just found our something that I
should have know n about years ago. I am
a label reader but the tiny print got away from me until I learned to look for
it. Food sold in the US now must show
where the product was made or grown. So
when we buy Jalapenos we know if they are from California or Mexico. If we know of a food that is contaminated and
comes from ABC land we can avoid it and still eat the product from XYZ land.
In this way we can have the knowledge to truly buy local or
make sure that the lamb is really from New Zealand. However there are some
problems with this new rule. While the
product must show country or origin it is usually so small and hard to
find. I recently bought some canned pumpkin
only to discover that it was from China where there was a problem with pumpkins
exploding because of too many chemicals on them. Since I do not want my pies exploding, I
tossed them just to be safe.
The other problem is the exemptions to the law. I get the small stores that sell fresh fish
and meat, they are too small and usually get their stuff local anyway. Processed foods, like bacon, cold cuts,
trail mix and the like do not have to show country of origin. Mixed veggies will be exempt as well. Why? USDA bent on the side of the industry yet
again and not the consumer. Good
watchdog.
Another loophole that is being allowed is the multiple
country of origin label. This means that
if a food processor (say meat) has meat from Canada, the US and Mexico it can
say that all on one label instead of identifying and changing labels with each
batch processed. This defeats our
ability to determine true place of origin. However, we must still be glad that
we have a start. Buy local when you can
and just be an informed consumer.
