Thread by @GGunthorp

I've spent a huge amount of my time and resources since 2015 working to get @USDAFoodSafety to fix one of the most egregious mislabeling of food in the United States.

Its legal to put foreign meat in its final package in the US and label it "Product of USA". That is wrong! /1

I flew to DC, had USDA officials out to the farm, met with FTC, etc. All on my dime. I'm not a paid lobbyist, I'm not even a beef farmer or producer.

I was naive to believe if we fix the most egregious labeling problems we could start to address the others. /2

We got an executive order from @POTUS . We got a favorable ruling from the @FTC .

We knew we had some work to keep Big Ag from bastardizing the rule making process at USDA and bastardize they did. /3

Yesterday @SecVilsack announced a "monumental" plan from the vast halls of @USDA to make it "voluntary" to comply with Product of the USA labeling as to whether the meat is domestic or not. Voluntary??? /4

Lets give credit where credit is due. We have no one to thank for this but the "cattle producer association"The National Cattleman Beef Association @BeltwayBeef

If you are a cattle producer and you support the actions of the NCBA there is a cold place in hell for you also! /5

Seriously, answer me #agtwitter Why do farmers allow their organizations to lobby against farmers and rural America's best interest? What US cattleman benefits from foreign beef, packaged in the US, getting a "product of USA" label? /6

Tom, @SecVilsack , honestly man how do you sleep at night? I really can't believe a Secretary of the UNITED STATES Department of Agriculture can be that brazenly bought off. There is really no other explanation. /7

We'll see now if the FTC is bold enough to force USDA to do the correct thing. The FTC has jurisdiction on product labels in retail, ie meat on a grocery store shelf. They could tell USDA to fix this. Will they?????? /8

I know one thing.

I, along with several others, tried. We got close.

I'm disgusted by our federal government today.

I'm seriously considering walking away from advocacy work. It isn't worth it. I want to leave with an F U NCBA! It's only fitting. /9