View the brief →
In this issue brief from Labels Unwrapped, author Josephine Pechous JD’24 explores Country of Origin Labeling.
Eating locally, whether that means in-state, regionally, or domestically, may provide benefits like increased nutrient availability and decreased carbon footprint, not to mention the benefit of supporting the local economy. Feelings of pride and authenticity add to these perceived benefits and increase consumer demand for local food options. In 2022, local food sales to retailers and directly to consumers rose to $3.8 billion.
Traditionally, most consumers bought local food at direct-to-consumer locations like farm stands and farmer’s markets. At these locations, producers and vendors are eager and available to tell the story behind their food. This information is less readily available at more conventional locations like supermarkets, corner stores, and grocery stores. Recently, the consumer trend towards shopping locally has led retailers to source more products from local vendors. Adding the retail step between the consumer and producer may alienate the product from its story. As a result, shoppers are often left to rely on what the food tells consumers about itself.
Food labels can help. In addition to the many functions they perform as a source of information, food labels help tell a product’s story—what special attributes it has or how it meets the needs of certain eaters. Because food labels can also provide a marketing advantage, they have become increasingly complex. The bright colors and bold descriptors adorning some products may confuse consumers and often say very little about where the product was made, raised, or grown.
This lack of information comes at a time when many consumers value transparency in the food supply. A recent study by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that consumers are willing to pay more for products with labels signifying “Product of USA.” For some consumers, this willingness is patriotic or even nationalistic. Other consumers want to invest in a stable domestic food supply or have greater trust in domestic food safety and manufacturing standards.
Although consumer support for products of the United States is high, consumer knowledge about them is relatively low. The same USDA study found that only 16 percent of consumers could correctly identify what it means for meat to be labeled “Product of USA.” Most consumers incorrectly believed that “Product of USA” printed on meat packaging means the meat was born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States. However, this definition is not true for all meat and can vary widely depending on the product.
In addition, produce is treated very differently than certain types of meat by the federal laws and regulations addressing country of origin labeling. While the law requires that certain meat labels list the different stages of production (born, raised, and slaughtered), produce only needs to be harvested in the United States to be labeled as “Product of USA.” For produce with continuous growth cycles like asparagus and carrots, this distinction makes sense: where the asparagus was planted is highly likely to be the same place it was harvested. But for foods with separate growth stages like mushrooms, this distinction allows producers to label their product as “Product of USA” even if some of its growth stages occurred in another country.
This publication was made possible with support from the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service.