Saint John’s cows grazing on organic pasture in Emmett, ID.
Our country is endowed with land suitable for grazing, especially in the Western United States. It may come as a surprise, then, to learn that we import 3 billion pounds of beef annually, enough beef for each person - man, woman, and child, to eat more than one quarter-pound burger a day. However, due to lax Country of Origin Labeling laws, most consumers have no idea that the grocery store meat they are buying is imported.
The average conscious consumer is buying their meat from a grocery store. They may check the ingredients to ensure no corn syrup or colors have been added, and they may be curious to find out where and how the meat was grown in order to assess its quality. This shopper sees a sticker that says “Product of U.S.A.” and is encouraged that they are making a purchase that aligns with their values. Little do they know that the meat was grown in Brazil but processed in the United States, therefore legally making it a product of the U.S.A.
In 2015, the Country of Origin Labeling laws were repealed, and that same year, beef prices fell by almost 50%. The financial impact this made to local, rural farms cannot be overstated. The price decrease was to compete with the cheap, low quality beef imports, a race to the bottom. The dollars that were being spent on local or at the minimum, truly U.S.A. beef have been diverted to multinational corporations instead.
The majority of imported beef comes from Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Brazil. While the meat is safety tested in the country of origin, there have been several scandals in Mexico and Brazil, including when the parent company of JBS (one of the Big Four meat processing companies in the U.S.A.) plead guilty to bribery related to beef and chicken imports to the U.S.A.
While there isn’t a meaningful amount of data showing safety differences in imported beef vs domestic beef vs local beef, there have been reports of mad cow disease in Brazilian beef and delayed reporting to the public when the contaminated beef status was known. This fact, coupled with the corruption charges, casts a shadow on the safety of imported beef.
Furthermore, the last two years have shown us the weakness of food supply chains that are dependent on centralized, multinational operations. In the U.S.A., the Big Four meat processors (JBS, Cargill, National Beef, and Tyson Foods) control at least 85 percent of our beef supply. These conglomerates ultimately have their shareholders in mind, and it is in their best interest to remove country of origin labeling from their beef.
The good news is we can make a big impact by voting with our dollars. By supporting local beef and local food, we strengthen our local economies and create a secure future for our food!