What's on Your Dinner Plate?

Last week I attempted to pass legislation to provide transparency in the food Idahoans consume. My bill didn’t require the banning of any ingredients or technology, only simple labeling of ingredients to make sure Idahoans knew what they were eating.

It turns out for some, mainly big food producing corporations and their high paid lobbyists, it would be too hard for their clients to do, and they would rather wait for the Federal Government to design the proper labels protocols. This led to the bill not making it out of the House Agriculture Committee.

In case you think this might be a tinfoil hat conspiracy, it’s not. The internet is ripe with insect added protein articles and studies. Lab-grown meat and insect-based proteins are already in the market, and they’re expanding fast throughout our country and the globe. The federal government is even funding edible insect research, handing out millions of dollars of taxpayer money in federal grants to private companies working on ways to grow and make crickets more appetizing.

Some states, like Florida, Missouri, Louisiana, and Iowa, have already stepped up to either require clear labels, or outright ban fake meat. Idaho had the chance to lead in the west, but instead, we’re left waiting on Washington, D.C. This most likely means we’ll be waiting a long time.

This bill wasn’t just about consumer choice; it was also about protecting Idaho’s farmers and ranchers. Our cattle producers have spent generations raising the best beef in the world. They shouldn’t have to compete with unlabeled lab-grown products pretending to be the real thing. If alternative proteins are as wonderful as their manufacturers claim, what’s the problem with labeling them honestly?

Opponents argued that federal regulations already cover labeling. But here’s the problem: They don’t. The USDA and FDA are still figuring out how to regulate lab-grown meat and insects, and in the meantime, misleading marketing is running wild. Some alternative protein companies use terms that sound just like traditional meat, blurring the lines and leaving consumers in the dark. We already have insects in many familiar food products in the U.S. (Yogurts, candy, cookies and cake mixes, and condiments). In Germany insect ingredients are showing up on the shelves so often that concerned consumers have created a bug app for smartphones to read labels.

Idahoans deserve better. They deserve the option to make informed choices about what they put on their tables and in their mouths. If we can’t even approve transparency in something as basic as food, what other unknown consumer product horrors await us?

I’ll keep fighting for Idaho consumers, our farmers, our ranchers and for plain old common sense. And if you ever find yourself biting into a mystery beetle burger and feel a cricket leg, just remember. I tried to warn you!