Tommy
Well-known member
R-CALF USA applauds the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), whose registered voting delegates on Tuesday – by an electronic vote during AFBF's 89th annual meeting held in New Orleans – voted 62 percent to 38 percent, or 212-132, to support mandatory country-of-origin labeling. R-CALF USA Region IX Director George Chambers serves as an AFBF delegate for the state of Georgia and attended the meeting.
"This was the third time that I've taken the delegate floor to speak on the Georgia Farm Bureau's behalf," said Chambers. "Georgia Farm Bureau is an affiliate of AFBF, but I've told my R-CALF friends that even though we're affiliated with AFBF, in many situations – especially with competition reforms and COOL – that our policy is almost verbatim the same as R-CALF's policy.
"The (AFBF) convention is over, so this is a done deal," he continued. "What surprised me as much as anything was the margin, and also, once I yielded the floor back, there was no one that got up and spoke in opposition. It wasn't even debated."
Chambers, citing polls that show that consumers want to know where their food comes from, also told the delegates, in part: "I have looked in this policy book and seen no less than 18 references to buy American or to the promotion of United States product – both domestic and abroad. How then, can we not remedy this contradiction in ideology? Our trading partners have asked for it, and most importantly, the American consumer has demanded it. In light of recent national food scares, like the Topps meat recall – which was proven to be of non-domestic origin – had we had mandatory country-of-origin in place, perhaps Topps Meat might still be in business…
"I leave you with this thought, and this is true. This morning when I woke up in the New Orleans Hotel, I used French-milled soap when I got in the shower. The bath cloth I put it on was made in Israel . The towel I dried off with was made in Bangladesh . The underwear that I put on was a product of Mexico . I went to the lobby and had breakfast: steak and eggs. I asked the chef what the country of origin of my strip steak was. He said, 'I have no idea.' I said, 'Can you find out?' He said, 'I have no way of knowing.' Fellow voting delegates, I leave you with this: I know what I put on my butt, but I have no idea what I put in my gut."
Chambers' entire statement is copied at the end of this news release.
"It's just great that Farm Bureau has come over to help support R-CALF, and I, being a member of the Illinois Farm Bureau, think it's just a good thing," said R-CALF USA Member Fred Baker, of Illinois. "It just shows good judgment and it's good for the AFBF membership."
Baker has been a delegate to AFBF's convention from his county and he serves on the Illinois Farm Bureau's Governmental Affairs Committee.
"We've seen time after time, whether it's the Zogby poll or university studies, people want to know where their food comes from," Baker continued. "We can't ignore what the consumers are telling us, so I applaud AFBF. Any more, there are very few farm groups that don't support COOL. Sometimes folks are a little late to the party, but we're glad to have them."
"The (AFBF) membership has voted, and hopefully will give direction to the Farm Bureau administration to continue to support a position that many state Farm Bureau chapters have supported for years," said R-CALF USA COOL Committee Chair Mike Schultz.
Chambers' statement:
"Fellow Delegates and Farm Bureau Members,
Recognizing and appreciating the fact that we have dealt with this issue many times in the past, I think that it's time to finally put the baby to bed. An August 2007 Zogby poll showed that 90 percent of over 6,573 people showed that Americans believe that knowing the country of origin would allow for safer food choices. Moreover than that, 94 percent said that consumers have the right to know.
A November 2007 Reuters poll of over 8,656 American housewives showed that if finally afforded the opportunity to know the country of origin of their food that they fed their families, they would overwhelmingly purchase that of U.S. origin, thus creating a premium-pay situation for the U.S. farmer and rancher. I'm not aware of anyone in this room or in American agriculture who would not be in favor of receiving a premium for the product they produce.
All of our major trading partners – especially those in the all-important Pacific Rim – have established as one of the conditions for re-establishing full trade of beef is that it is distinctly of United States ' origin.
Ladies and Gentlemen, how can we can we assure this to our trading partners without mandatory COOL? Considerable time and effort by most all industry groups went into finding a workable solution to COOL in the House markup of the pending Farm Bill. They must have done something right if they can get both houses of Congress to agree on anything. In fact, numerous amendments that were offered – none of which dealt with country of origin. It was accepted into the Senate markup in exactly the same way as offered in the House. Even the traditional industry groups that had historically opposed Mandatory Country of Origin have come out and publicly said this is a workable version.
The United States is the only country in the Western Hemisphere without country-of-origin labeling. This includes countries like Honduras , Nicaragua , El Salvador and Chile , all of which, in most instances, we in the United States view as third-world in development. But it would appear to me, that on this issue, we are the ones who have been left behind.
We in Farm Bureau say that we are the voice of agriculture, and I truly believe that we are. We stand here and purport that we have the safest, most abundant food supply in the world, yet, as an organization, we haven't seemed to have been proud enough of that fact to support mandatory labeling of our products on the world market.
I have looked in this policy book and seen no less than 18 references to buy American or to the promotion of United States products – both domestic and abroad. How then, can we not remedy this contradiction in ideology?
Our trading partners have asked for it, and most importantly, the American consumer has demanded it. In light of recent national food scares, like the Topps meat recall – which was proven to be of non-domestic origin – had we had mandatory country-of-origin in place, perhaps Topps Meat might still be in business. Congress has provided for it in its markup, and it is time that we give them what they want.
I leave you with this thought, and this is true. This morning when I woke up in the New Orleans Hotel, I used French-milled soap when I got in the shower. The bathcloth I put it on was made in Israel . The towel I dried off with was made in Bangladesh . The underwear that I put on was a product of Mexico . I went to the lobby and had breakfast: steak and eggs. I asked the chef what the country of origin of my strip steak was. He said, "I have no idea." I said, "Can you find out?" He said, "I have no way of knowing." Fellow voting delegates, I leave you with this: I know what I put on my butt, but I have no idea what I put in my gut."
A Jan. 15, 2007, AFBF news release states: "The policy approved at the annual meeting will guide AFBF's legislative and regulatory efforts throughout 2008."
"This was the third time that I've taken the delegate floor to speak on the Georgia Farm Bureau's behalf," said Chambers. "Georgia Farm Bureau is an affiliate of AFBF, but I've told my R-CALF friends that even though we're affiliated with AFBF, in many situations – especially with competition reforms and COOL – that our policy is almost verbatim the same as R-CALF's policy.
"The (AFBF) convention is over, so this is a done deal," he continued. "What surprised me as much as anything was the margin, and also, once I yielded the floor back, there was no one that got up and spoke in opposition. It wasn't even debated."
Chambers, citing polls that show that consumers want to know where their food comes from, also told the delegates, in part: "I have looked in this policy book and seen no less than 18 references to buy American or to the promotion of United States product – both domestic and abroad. How then, can we not remedy this contradiction in ideology? Our trading partners have asked for it, and most importantly, the American consumer has demanded it. In light of recent national food scares, like the Topps meat recall – which was proven to be of non-domestic origin – had we had mandatory country-of-origin in place, perhaps Topps Meat might still be in business…
"I leave you with this thought, and this is true. This morning when I woke up in the New Orleans Hotel, I used French-milled soap when I got in the shower. The bath cloth I put it on was made in Israel . The towel I dried off with was made in Bangladesh . The underwear that I put on was a product of Mexico . I went to the lobby and had breakfast: steak and eggs. I asked the chef what the country of origin of my strip steak was. He said, 'I have no idea.' I said, 'Can you find out?' He said, 'I have no way of knowing.' Fellow voting delegates, I leave you with this: I know what I put on my butt, but I have no idea what I put in my gut."
Chambers' entire statement is copied at the end of this news release.
"It's just great that Farm Bureau has come over to help support R-CALF, and I, being a member of the Illinois Farm Bureau, think it's just a good thing," said R-CALF USA Member Fred Baker, of Illinois. "It just shows good judgment and it's good for the AFBF membership."
Baker has been a delegate to AFBF's convention from his county and he serves on the Illinois Farm Bureau's Governmental Affairs Committee.
"We've seen time after time, whether it's the Zogby poll or university studies, people want to know where their food comes from," Baker continued. "We can't ignore what the consumers are telling us, so I applaud AFBF. Any more, there are very few farm groups that don't support COOL. Sometimes folks are a little late to the party, but we're glad to have them."
"The (AFBF) membership has voted, and hopefully will give direction to the Farm Bureau administration to continue to support a position that many state Farm Bureau chapters have supported for years," said R-CALF USA COOL Committee Chair Mike Schultz.
Chambers' statement:
"Fellow Delegates and Farm Bureau Members,
Recognizing and appreciating the fact that we have dealt with this issue many times in the past, I think that it's time to finally put the baby to bed. An August 2007 Zogby poll showed that 90 percent of over 6,573 people showed that Americans believe that knowing the country of origin would allow for safer food choices. Moreover than that, 94 percent said that consumers have the right to know.
A November 2007 Reuters poll of over 8,656 American housewives showed that if finally afforded the opportunity to know the country of origin of their food that they fed their families, they would overwhelmingly purchase that of U.S. origin, thus creating a premium-pay situation for the U.S. farmer and rancher. I'm not aware of anyone in this room or in American agriculture who would not be in favor of receiving a premium for the product they produce.
All of our major trading partners – especially those in the all-important Pacific Rim – have established as one of the conditions for re-establishing full trade of beef is that it is distinctly of United States ' origin.
Ladies and Gentlemen, how can we can we assure this to our trading partners without mandatory COOL? Considerable time and effort by most all industry groups went into finding a workable solution to COOL in the House markup of the pending Farm Bill. They must have done something right if they can get both houses of Congress to agree on anything. In fact, numerous amendments that were offered – none of which dealt with country of origin. It was accepted into the Senate markup in exactly the same way as offered in the House. Even the traditional industry groups that had historically opposed Mandatory Country of Origin have come out and publicly said this is a workable version.
The United States is the only country in the Western Hemisphere without country-of-origin labeling. This includes countries like Honduras , Nicaragua , El Salvador and Chile , all of which, in most instances, we in the United States view as third-world in development. But it would appear to me, that on this issue, we are the ones who have been left behind.
We in Farm Bureau say that we are the voice of agriculture, and I truly believe that we are. We stand here and purport that we have the safest, most abundant food supply in the world, yet, as an organization, we haven't seemed to have been proud enough of that fact to support mandatory labeling of our products on the world market.
I have looked in this policy book and seen no less than 18 references to buy American or to the promotion of United States products – both domestic and abroad. How then, can we not remedy this contradiction in ideology?
Our trading partners have asked for it, and most importantly, the American consumer has demanded it. In light of recent national food scares, like the Topps meat recall – which was proven to be of non-domestic origin – had we had mandatory country-of-origin in place, perhaps Topps Meat might still be in business. Congress has provided for it in its markup, and it is time that we give them what they want.
I leave you with this thought, and this is true. This morning when I woke up in the New Orleans Hotel, I used French-milled soap when I got in the shower. The bathcloth I put it on was made in Israel . The towel I dried off with was made in Bangladesh . The underwear that I put on was a product of Mexico . I went to the lobby and had breakfast: steak and eggs. I asked the chef what the country of origin of my strip steak was. He said, "I have no idea." I said, "Can you find out?" He said, "I have no way of knowing." Fellow voting delegates, I leave you with this: I know what I put on my butt, but I have no idea what I put in my gut."
A Jan. 15, 2007, AFBF news release states: "The policy approved at the annual meeting will guide AFBF's legislative and regulatory efforts throughout 2008."
