Thread by @brettender1

Since 2015, your meat has been fraudulently labeled a Product of the USA.

Here's how you're being lied to:

When walking by the meat counter at the grocery store, you will likely see the label "Product of the USA."

You may even see labels like "Pasture-Raised" or "Grass-Fed"

The labels are detracting from the fact that the beef you are about to purchase was not made in the USA.

In 2002, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) passed a law called the Country of Origin Labeling Act (COOL).

The law was part of the Farm Bill and was created to give consumers transparency into their meat + ranchers a fair price for growing meat domestically.

The act required sellers/packers to disclose the country that the animal was born, raised, and slaughtered.

This was a huge win for US ranchers, who have small margins to begin with and are strong-armed by the large 4 corporate packers.

US Ranchers and you as the consumer have a right to know where your beef is coming from.

That was the purpose of this act to begin with.

To give you full transparency into the origins of your meat.

In 2015, under Tom Vilsack, the USDA repealed the COOL ACT under the premise that the COOL Act "hampered competition with livestock from Mexico and Canada."

With the repeal of this act, you truly have no transparency into where your meat is coming from.

For example: An animal can be raised, killed, and processed in Brazil, but if it's packaged in the USA you can slap a USA label on it.

Pretty insane right?

There is virtually no way for our US Ranchers to compete with something like this.

Large corporate Packers can cheaply import their beef from Brazil and uninformed consumers are buying it thinking it's beef from Texas, Montana, etc.

Blatant Fraud.

Despite the cheap input costs that Big 4 Packers now have, it has not dropped the price for the consumer.

Why? You may ask...

Simple: The Big 4 Packers are taking the excess profits for themselves.

They care about profit, not your health.

https://twitter.com/brettender1/status/1549725849787568129?s=20

There have been rumblings that the COOL Act may be making a resurgence in congress, but we haven't seen much material progress in that direction.

It's time to take matters into our own hands...

And what does that look like?

Simple: Start forming a relationship with your local rancher in your area.

Shake their hand.

Get on a first-name basis with them.

Give them your hard-earned money in exchange for pure animal protein.

This is the purest transaction you can make and the best way to ensure you are getting local, nutrient-dense beef that is grown as God intended.

If you don't know where to start, websites like eatwild.com will allow you to find a local farm in your exact zip code.

If that isn't enough, here are a few farms / decentralized ways to purchase beef & pork:

@regenranching - Regen ranch in San Diego
@JasonWrich - Regen ranch in CO
@holycowbeef - Regen ranch in TX
@shirttailcreek - Regen ranch in TX
@gingerhillangus - Incredible ranch in VA

Also shoutout @jakesteaks1 - beef delivery service and @RootedLocalTX

Also, shoutout to the great @FoodLiesOrg for the awesome steak pic in the header!