Senator Deb Fischer is badly out of step with American farmers, ranchers and consumers on the issue of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). In 2015, Congress repealed COOL for beef and pork products. It was a move that crippled American farmers and ranchers and now foreign meat is now being sold without country-of-origin disclosure. Meat packers can now displace U.S. production by sourcing cheaper, foreign beef and yet sell it to unsuspecting American consumers as if it were a domestic-produced product because even foreign meat receives a USDA inspection sticker when it enters the U.S. Sadly, consumers erroneously equate the USDA inspection sticker with a mark of origin.

After COOL was repealed, meat packer profit margins jumped from $146 to $269 per animal but U.S. cattle prices dropped causing hardship in Nebraska and rural America. A poll by Morning Consult found that 86 percent of registered voters supported mandatory country of origin labeling for beef and 77 percent believed it was important that the beef they purchased was born, raised and harvested in the United States.

However, Sen. Fischer has opposed legislation to mandate country-of-origin labeling. On July 27, 2023, she voted against the Country of Origin Labeling Online Act (S. 1421), which passed the Commerce Committee by a bipartisan vote of 16-11. The bill would mandate that country-of-origin labeling be clearly and conspicuously stated in any website description of a product. The legislation is supported by more than 2,000 U.S. companies and bipartisan organizations representing American businesses and workers: https://prosperousamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/210216-COOL-Online-Act-Coalition-ltr.pdf

In addition, Fischer is not a co-sponsor of the American Beef Labeling Act (S. 52) which would require country of origin labels on beef sold in grocery stores. This legislation is the most important step Congress can take in the 2024 Farm Bill to stop the global commoditization of beef, and the global race to the bottom in cattle and beef sourcing.

Since her first election in 2012, Fischer has been grazing on a steady diet of campaign contributions from Cargill Inc., JBS Foods and Tyson Foods – three of the Big Four meat packers that are raking in record profits

Cargill Inc. – $8,500 between 2012-2018

JBS Foods – $8,000 between 2012-2020

Tyson Foods – $17,840 between 2012-2022

Total: $34,340

Source: www.opensecrets.org