Consumers have confidence in America's farmers and ranchers.
This allows them to buy products produced by their fellow Americans and be assured that the prod ucts were produced in America. Rigolizzo says surveys show consumers care about the origin of the food they eat. He says current government policy, which allows imported livestock to carry USDA inspection labels when the animals are processed in U.S. packing facilities, is misleading and patently unfair to American producers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking steps to curb anti-competitive practices in the livestock, meatpacking and poultry industries, top officials say. Michael Dunn, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing led by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.