foodperson.com

Two news items today illustrate that, when we speak up, we can affect what’s going on in the world. At least that’s the message I’m taking from these two items.

• The first, a Zogby International poll, underscores previous polls indicating that, yes, Americans do want to know where their food comes from. Zogby reported:

Nearly three in four (74%) say it’s important to them to know the country of origin for the all types of products they buy, but even more – 85% – say knowing where their food comes from is important. But for the vast majority of Americans it’s about more than just wanting to know – 94% believe consumers have a right to know the country of origin of the foods they purchase…

That result should reassure politicians who supported the Farm Bill’s country-of-origin labeling (COOL) expansion to include meat. (That rule still isn’t final by the way; call your senators!)

The poll also found that nearly half (48%) said they don’t know where the majority of the vegetables, fruits and nuts they consume originate, which kind of makes you wonder about the 65% of respondents who said “they go out of their way to buy local produce and other food products.” I’m guessing a big share of those people thought saying so was the “right” answer to that question. Still, knowing that buying local food is the right thing to do may lead more people to actually do it.

Meanwhile, the poll reported also that “90% of Americans want the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to hire additional inspectors to increase inspection of food imports.” Don’t know whether that’s likely to happen any time soon, but it does lead us to the second news item, which makes me think policymakers are listening, at least a little bit:

• The USDA has decided not to close regional food-testing labs after all, at least for now. We’ll keep an eye out for updates on the food imports situation. In the meantime, though, it doesn’t hurt to know your grower.