Grain Support & Upholding COOL

Grain Support & Upholding COOL

Grain Support & Upholding COOL plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Citing the "extremely troubling precedent" being set, 22 national, regional and state agricultural producer, commodity and agribusiness organizations have urged the USDA to take immediate action to restore official grain inspection and weighing services at the Port of Vancouver, Wash. The port is being picketed by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union as part of an ongoing labor dispute.  WSDA had been delegated the responsibility to provide official grain inspection and weighing services at the port by USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld USDA's authority to issue rules implementing Country of Origin Labeling for meat and poultry products. R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard is pleased with the 8 to 3 ruling and says it's unlikely the case will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

BULLARD: We think this decision is relatively strong and the likelihood of a Supreme Court hearing this case I would think to be rather minimal. So this is very good news but it begs the question now as we are anticipating a decision from the World Trade Organization as to who are we going to listen to.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

When did we forget how to let kids be kids? Take for instance the recent controversy in Canada over the removal of trees at a popular recreational park after a child fell from one and broke their arm. These trees have provided shade and enjoyment for numerous generations of park goers. And I'm sure that over the years many children and perhaps a few adults have fallen from these trees, receiving bumps and bruises or broken bones. But that was then and this is now. We no longer seem to want to allow children to experience any of life's natural pitfalls. Heaven forbid there should be swings, teeter totters, or jungle gyms on playgrounds anymore. Now we've decided to label trees as natural predators of young children that need to be removed - as if they're the "Whomping Willows" from the popular Harry Potter series. What are we really teaching children when we remove all obstacles or possible risk from their lives? We certainly aren't teaching them how to survive by assessing challenges and meeting them head on. No one wants to see their child hurt, but we need to make sure our protecting them isn't hurting them more in the long run.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.

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