Animal tracks

Which animal did your dinner come from?

By Culinate staff

February 18, 2010

Earlier this month, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA would actively pursue “a new, flexible framework for animal-disease traceability in the United States.”

What does that mean? Well, for one, it’s a change of direction after the USDA’s initial National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was heavily criticized, especially by family farmers. As the USDA said in a downloadable FAQ,

Some of the concerns and criticisms raised included confidentiality, liability, cost, privacy, and religion. There were also concerns about NAIS being the wrong priority for USDA, that the system benefits only large-scale producers, and that NAIS is unnecessary because existing animal identification systems are sufficient.

Stay tuned on the USDA’s traceability website to see where the agency goes next on this food-safety issue.