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Corn growers urge labeling of food products Keith Bolin, president of the American Corn Growers Association and a corn farmer from Manlius, Ill., has announced that his organization, as part of a coalition of 215 agriculture and consumer groups, has sent letters to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives reaffirming strong support for country of origin labeling for many of the foods sold in the U.S. Passed by Congress and signed into law almost five years ago by the President as part of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (a.k.a. the 2002 Farm Bill), COOL is mandated for many food products. ACGA, as part of The Americans for Country of Origin Labeling coalition, maintains its commitment to seeing COOL implemented for fruits, vegetables, peanuts and red meat. "Opponents to country of origin labeling have been successful in past congressional sessions in postponing the original 2002 implementation date," explained Bolin, "even though every poll conducted on the issue has shown at least 80 percent of America's consumers want to know where their food is coming from. We are very optimistic that this new Congress will require implementation of this law by this coming September." In the letters to Congress, the coalition of 215 organizations urged Congress to "change the date of implementing mandatory country of-origin labeling for beef, pork, lamb, produce and peanuts to September 2007." "We believe consumers should have the information to make informed decisions about the origins of their food," said Bolin. "Therefore, ACGA supports country of origin labeling for all food products. We must allow consumers to make informed food choices through adequate product labeling." "I urge everyone to send a personal message to their senators and representative on this important issue. You may do so online by going to http://capwiz.com/nfu/issue s/alert," concluded Bolin. "We also wish to thank the National Farmers Union for providing this web link and for their leadership on this important matter."
The American Corn Growers Association represents 14,000 members in 35 states. See http://www.ac ga.org/.
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