Where In The World Have You Been?

I woke up this morning thinking about the past weekend. It was great! Well, that is if I excluded the hours I was at work yesterday.

Yes, the Packers won! Mostly, though, I was remembering the marvelous time we had at my niece’s wedding on Saturday. We hadn’t seen so many of our relatives for way too long. The wedding was the perfect place for our families to reconnect.

But another thought came to mind this morning. I was remembering that juicy hunk of beef that I had enjoyed at the reception, and I couldn’t help wondering, “Where did it come from, and what had it actually gone through enroute to my dinner plate?”

Is it possible this is the route it took?

“Many animals slaughtered in the United States are actually immigrants, born in Canada, Mexico and other nations and shipped here to be raised. Others were born in one foreign nation and raised in another, touching American soil for only a final graze and packaging.

‘Animals slaughtered in the U.S. weren't necessarily born here,’ Russell said. ‘Under the current proposal, the labels would have to reveal everywhere they've been. The labels could end up looking like passports.’

Also, ground meats like hamburger, which typically include meat from animals raised in several nations, will have labels reflecting that diversity.”

Am I missing something here? Mr. Russell is using this as an argument against the proposed new labels for our food items?

My delicious hunk of beef could have been born in Brazil, raised in Mexico, shipped to the U.S. for finishing and slaughter and then, finally, stamped with the “USDA Approved” label?

This gives me great cause for concern when I think of the recent recalls of contaminated products from China. This is just ONE nation and ONE fraction of our imports!

Am I confident that these other countries have any more superior production or quality control systems in place either?

Now throw this into the equation: Even if my tenderloin had been “Made in America” would I be any more comfortable about the quality of that meat considering what I know about our own conventional meat production and processing operations?

Let’s take a look at those while we’re at it. Well, maybe that will need to wait for a future post.

The moral of this post: “Give thanks for the awesome local food producers whose labels will NEVER read like a passport!”