Montanans demand COOL
Restoring mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) would be a big win for ranchers and consumers alike. Consumers deserve the right to choose USA beef and pork and ranchers deserve the right to an honest market.
Whether you’re a consumer, a cattle producer, or an organization, take action today to restore COOL.
Ranchers and consumers deserve honest markets
Right now, cattle producers are being forced out of business because a handful of transnational corporations are manipulating cattle markets and lying to Montana consumers. One of the ways these corporations are manipulating markets is by mislabeling where beef and pork is born and raised. Because powerful meatpackers have manipulated the system, beef and pork are the only products that don’t require a Country-of-Origin Label (COOL), leaving our ranchers to compete with cheaper, imported beef. This fraudulent labeling also puts our consumers at risk and leads them to purchase beef and pork of unknown origin.
Our coalition of organizations, working together with Montana farmers, are fighting for fairness and transparency in the market. Whether you’re an organization, a cattle producer, or a consumer, we offer you a way to take action today.
If you’re an organization, please sign on to a letter that our coalition of organizations has written to Montana’s Congressional delegation urging them to support mandatory COOL.
If you’re a cattle producer, send each of Montana’s four Congressional delegates an email urging them to support mandatory COOL.
If you’re a consumer, you can also send Montana’s Congressional delegates an email urging them to support mandatory COOL.
Without mandatory COOL, our ranchers face volatile markets. The years after Country of Origin Labeling was rescinded took a huge toll on Montana ranchers. In the five-year period between 2017 and 2022, Montana lost 1,867 farms raising cattle and calves. As operations go out of business, our rural places suffer economic ripple effects that lead to shuttered main streets and hollowed out communities all while corporate meatpackers reap record-breaking profits. Montana’s state legislature knows this and penned a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to implement mandatory COOL. Montana’s congressional delegation now has the opportunity to support hardworking ranchers and consumers in their state by making country of Origin Labeling mandatory.
It’s up to us to pressure Montana’s delegation to adopt this commonsense legislation. The future of family ranching and the economic viability of rural communities are at stake.
Again, if you’re an organization, please sign on to this letter to Montana’s Congressional delegation .
If you’re a cattle producer, send this email to each of the delegates.
And if you’re a consumer, send this email to each of the delegates.
Questions?
If you have any questions , please contact Gusty Catherin-Sauer at gusty [at] northernplains [dot] org
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