WHERE
DOES YOUR ORGANIC FOOD COME FROM?
Increasing numbers of food companies, including Brand Name organic
companies, are "outsourcing" their ingredients from overseas
in order to increase their bottom-line profits. Suppliers in places
like China, where prices and wages are rock-bottom, are gaining
market preference over "Made in the USA" products, where
wages and environmental regulations are more strictly regulated.
Consumers are left guessing which products to buy, due to a lack
of "country of origin labeling" on grocery items (except
fish). Congress passed a mandatory country of origin labeling law
two years ago, in the wake of massive consumer pressure, but has
not yet funded or implemented this law. Now transnational food giants
and supermarket chains, like Wal-Mart, are pressuring congress to
rid of mandatory country of origin labeling laws and make the labels
strictly voluntary for industry. To
learn more about organic outsourcing see: /old_articles/organic/imports101005.cfm
To
tell Congress to make country of origin labeling mandatory go to:
/old_articles/Politics/cool091605.cfm