Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) for Beef
This is a campaign to get Congress to immediately pass the American Beef Labeling Act, Senate Bill S.52, and the Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act, House Bill H.R.5081, to require all foreign and domestic beef sold in grocery stores to be labeled as to where it was born, raised, and harvested.
We Need Your Help
MCOOL Letters to the Editor are Needed
Congress is on recess until after the November election and right now everyone’s focus will be on getting reelected or getting their colleagues reelected.
Letters to the editor are one of the best ways to educate and influence a wide audience in your community, including your elected officials who will be paying extra close attention to what matters to voters in their districts.
Many Americans do not know that the origins of the beef they purchase are being kept hidden from them, so they are unable to choose for themselves whether to buy American produced beef or imported foreign beef.
Unless Congress passes MCOOL for beef in the 2024 Farm Bill, America will continue to lose an average of 21,000 beef cattle operations each year to foreign competition – that’s more than 400 ranches and farms lost per U.S. state per year!
Action: Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Now is the perfect time to inform voters and elected officials in your community that Congress must include mandatory country of origin labeling for beef in the 2024 Farm Bill.
Lastly, be sure to include your congressional members’ names. If your senators or representative are already sponsors of one of the mandatory country of origin labeling bills currently introduced in the Senate (S.52) or House (H.R.5081), thank them for their support!
S.52 bipartisan sponsors include Sens. Thune (R-SD), Rounds (R-SD), Tester (D-MT), Booker (D-NJ), Lummis (R-WY), Gillibrand (D-NY), Hoeven (R-ND), Lujan (D-NM), and Heinrich (D-NM).
H.R.5081 bipartisan sponsors include Reps. Hageman (R-WY). Gosar (R-AZ), Blumenauer (D-OR), Khanna (D-CA), Tokuda (D-HI), and Casar (D-TX).
Additional resources are available below, including example letters to the editor, to help you write your letter. Thank you and good luck!
Chart shows cattle prices (red line) historically followed consumer beef prices (blue columns) up and down very closely. In 2015 beef and cattle prices disconnected from each other and began moving in opposite directions, this means the beef supply chain is exploiting both consumers and cattle producers. Mandatory country of origin labeling will help restore the relationship between retail beef prices and cattle prices.
Click on state for a list of links to contact newspapers in your state.
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Additional Resources
Congressional offices all follow Letters to the Editors in their newspapers. Write your own Letter to the Editor to newspapers in your state and include your Congressional Representatives’ names. Examples are below.
Stoneberg: Dear Editor, Why are some groups opposing MCOOL? | TSLN.com
Kimball Livestock Exchange: We support MCOOL | TSLN.com
Bentlage: Cattle ranchers need Congress help against big 4 meatpackers | The Kansas City Star
Stockton: Consumers overwhelmingly want country of origin labeling | Ravalli Republic (Mont.)
Bipartisan Beef – Opinion Editorials – U.S. Senator John Thune (senate.gov) **Share Sens. Thune and Tester’s Op-ed with your local newspaper.
Anderson: Support honest labeling of beef | Letters to the Editor | bismarcktribune.com
Stockton: USDA Labeling Fraud – Western Ag Reporter
Bullard: Beef Packers, Allies Urge Congress to Do Nothing in Face of Broken Cattle Markets
Evans: Label misleads: It’s time for transparency in meat production – WyoFile
Dunlap: It’s time to demand a fair and transparent marketing system Lewistown News-Argus (Mont.)
Opinion: Dockter: Who supports ND beef? | TSLN.com (N.Dak.)
Iversen: Concentration in the marketplace | TSLN.com (S.Dak.)
O’Shaughnessy: Where’s the beef (from)? | Rome Daily Sentinel (romesentinel.com) (N.Y.)
Dockter: We need MCOOL | TSLN.com (N.Dak.)
Paulsen: MCOOL and 50/14 Letter to the Editor Crofton Journal (Neb.)
Share the Resolution to Support Mandatory COOL for Beef (available here) with your state legislator or Tribal Council and ask them to introduce it in your state legislative session.
So far, the South Dakota State Legislature and the Navajo Nation Council have passed Resolutions to Support MCOOL.
10.14.2022 MCOOL update | TSLN.com
8.30.2022 Advocates of COOL for beef see a pathway to success – if Senate acts | InsideTrade.com (Sign up for the free trial to view.)
4.25.2022 Hard-Fought Battle Continues Over Beef Country-of-Origin Labeling (dtnpf.com)
4.7.2022 – House members sponsor MCOOL legislation – Tri-State Livestock News
-1.7.2022 – VIDEO – Fox News Tomi Lahren: Ranchers and consumers losing money because of foreign meat imports
-12.21.2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Ranch Group Applauds Navajo Nation’s Support of MCOOL
-12.17.2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Colorado Ranchers Raise More Than $24K for MCOOL, 50/14
-12.11.2021 – ARTICLE – US News by Associated Press – Navajo ranchers want imported beef labeled
-09.17.2021 – EDITORIAL – Rapid City Journal – Thune: Real American Beef
Buy or Sell US Born, Raised & Processed Beef
Until Congress passes the MCOOL law for beef, connect directly with US cattle producers at www.USABeef.org.
