On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 10:17:40 AM UTC-4, Janet wrote:

> In the UK, (and EU) every product is labelled with the country of
> origin where it was produced. I live on a small island off Scotland.I
> can buy fresh asparagus, kiwi, bananas, citrus, salad, apples, tomatoes,
> avocado, pineapple, mango etc, everyday, all year round. In UK, for
> years past, international air freight means fresh fruit and veg are
> always available; including produce from the Caribbean and South
> America (and the rest of the world). The country of origin changes with
> the seasons.

We have fairly complicated regulations on country-of-origin labeling.
I was actually surprised to see that produce is required to be labeled.
There doesn't appear to be any regulation on the size of the label,
it's probably in teeny-tiny letters on the sticker with the PLU code.

Complicated, because the Food and Drug Administration controls some
products while the U.S. Department of Agriculture controls other.

Recently, Congress repealed the requirement for COO labeling on
beef and pork, because the World Trade Organization had a hissy
fit at us.

> I can't understand why Julie finds shortages of fresh undamaged
> produce in Bothell when California and Florida are on her US doorstep,
> and Mexico the Caribbean and South America next door?

I don't get it, either. I live in Michigan, which isn't quite the
center of the country, but I have access to beautiful produce in
the summer, and quite nice produce in the winter. All of it at
a regular grocery store--and not a very fancy one at that.

Cindy Hamilton