MCOOL battle + consumers turn to local food
MCOOL battle + consumers turn to local food
A news briefing from Farm Action’s policy team
August 3, 2026
MCOOL back in farm bill debate
What happened: As the Senate Agriculture Committee prepares to begin markup of the farm bill this Thursday, debate over Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (MCOOL) for beef has intensified. Rancher groups, including R-CALF USA and the Independent Beef Association of North Dakota (I-BAND), are urging lawmakers to include MCOOL in the legislation, arguing that consumers deserve to know where their beef comes from and that mandatory labeling would help distinguish U.S.-raised beef from imports. Meanwhile, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is urging senators to oppose the measure, claiming that reinstating MCOOL would increase costs and expose U.S. producers to retaliatory trade tariffs.
Source: Tri-State Livestock News
Why it matters: The fight over MCOOL has become a proxy for a broader debate about representation within the cattle industry. Many independent ranchers view country-of-origin labeling as a way to compete by allowing consumers to identify U.S.-raised beef. NCBA’s opposition has fueled questions about whether the organization is speaking primarily for cattle producers or for the large meatpacking companies that also make up part of its membership. While many ranchers have spent years urging Congress to restore MCOOL, NCBA is lobbying against it, putting that divide back in the spotlight as lawmakers debate the farm bill.
Some Philadelphians have turned to farmers’ markets as the cyclosporiasis outbreak continues
What happened: Farmers’ markets are seeing increased interest as families turn to them amidst the cyclospora outbreak. As consumers feel uncertainty around fresh produce from Taylor Farms, they report feeling more secure in purchasing from local producers where they’re able to have transparent conversations about how food is grown with the people growing it. One market in Pennsylvania, a state with numerous confirmed cases of cyclospora, has seen a roughly 15% increase in visitors over the last several weeks, which one of the market’s managers attributes to the increased feeling of safety consumers have with locally-grown food. Although produce at farmers’ markets can come with a higher price tag, food generally travels less distance, supports farmworkers, and passes through fewer hands on its way to the consumer.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Why it matters: Increased interest in farmers’ markets shows an important understanding of the benefits of locally-grown food: shorter supply chains allow consumers to know more about where and how their food is grown. Especially amidst the cyclospora outbreak, access to locally-grown produce allows consumers to suffer fewer disruptions in purchasing food and feel more confident about the safety of the food they’re purchasing. Intense corporate concentration in agriculture has meant that outbreaks have wide ripple effects for millions of consumers, with a single crisis affecting purchasing choices around the country. With strengthened local supply chains, these impacts would be mitigated by localizing purchasing—insulating consumers from national shocks—and strengthening the connection between farmers and their communities.
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