BORN in the U.S., grown in the U.S., raised in the U.S.

If any product sold in the U.S. -- or sold elsewhere in the world -- bears some sort of "U.S. Made" or "U.S. Produced" label, an individual expects that it's likely of the highest-possible quality, although given the extent to which technology is transferring across the world, arguing that it's the best may be increasingly losing its point.

The fact is that there are no real objections to a country-of-origin label for beef, pork or other meat -- if it's cost effective and stamped voluntarily on the package by producers who are in a production system. It probably would have a demand-enhancing impact.

However, a mandated sticker -- or an effort by livestock producers to encourage consumers to ask for U.S.-produced product -- could have just the opposite impact on demand.

Brands are becoming more and more necessary in the meat case because consumers are becoming more sophisticated in the food they eat, and the meat case is the final frontier for branded meat.

Consumers want meat that's healthful, nutritious and safe; consumers want meat that's convenient to buy, carry home, refrigerate and fix for the table and that's tasty and tender; they want meat that's a price value, and they want meat that was produced in an animal- and environmentally friendly way and in a safe workplace.

Consumers look for the brand as the guarantee that the meat product they are buying will be all of that, which is why more supermarkets are putting branded products in their meat cases, even those with supercenter formats.

A U.S. label would be received as a brand or part of the brand. However, if that label is stuck on any package of meat that can establish just country of origin without coming from an animal that was born, grown and processed in a process- and source-verified program that follows the protocols of a particular system, it could mean consumers would experience something <I>pretty<I> bad. If it comes from an animal produced without any concern to genetics, animal health and nutrition and other management practices, it could mean consumers would experience something <I>really<I> bad.

Despite the tremendous progress the beef and pork industries have made in the last decade to be consumer oriented, there are still producers who are not, and a U.S.-produced label under these circumstances could be a turnoff to U.S.-produced product.

This is why a move to "U.S." needs to be done with deliberation, not a mandate, and this is why banners promoting "U.S." may be quite risky. "U.S." stands for something special, and it should go with something special.

Copyright Feedstuffs, Miller Publishing Company