Jess-Viborg-Day 16

I learned today that the consumers here want to know where their food is coming from, just like in the U.S. However, the Danish are going about accomplishing this task in a much different manner than the U.S. Legislation has already been passed here that forces producers of everthing from tomatoes to dairy products to have identification numbers and labels on their animals and the products they produce. For example, all dairy cattle must have a yellow, plastic, tag in each ear that reads the identification number of that animal. If the government travels to a dairy farm (the government only allows the producer a 24 hour heads-up before arriving) and that farmer does not have proper identification on each animal he can be fined more than 2000 Dkk.

I found this to be very different from the U.S. Yes, people in the United States say that they want to know where their consumer goods come from and our Departments of Agriculture (at least in Illinois) want to be able to trace back to the origin of any animal within a 24 hour period. However, at this point there is no legislation forcing a producer to register the animals that he has on his farm with the IL Dept. of Ag. for example.

When I have spoken with consumers and producers here there is a very mixed opinion about how these issues should be handled. The farmers feel like they have no choice but to follow the governments laws or else they will simply have to go out of business. Farmers also believe that consumers can force legislation to pass to law in a very short period of time without any research or scientific evidence to support their reasons for change. This leads to stipulations being put on farmers that are not necessarily in the best interest of the animals, but rather make people "feel" better about what they perceive as better for the animals that are producing goods.

This issue forms quite a tangled web of emotions, fines, and legislation for a producer to follow. I have a hard time trying to wrap my brain around the thought of U.S. producers being regulated as the producers in Denmark are, and I cannot help but to think that there would be even fewer farmers in the U.S. if they were treated as they are in Denmark. I cannot decide whether this is a good approach or not. I will be sure to write more later about what other consumers, producers, and even researchers think about these issues.