At grocery stores nationwide, meat, produce and some nuts will be marked with stickers, signs and other informational tags about where they come from as part of the federally mandated country-of-origin labeling law (COOL), which went into effect on Tuesday, The Tribune reports.

San Luis Obispo County's agricultural community sees country-of-origin labeling -- designed to distinguish U.S. goods from imports -- as a way to expand "buy local" campaigns.

"We can promote our growers and (let) the customers know a little more about what they're buying at the same time," said Jackie Crabb, executive director of the San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau.

Labeling is also an effort to present shoppers with more information, Crabb said, such as how far an apple traveled to the store or whether they need to be concerned about food safety issues in other countries.

The law is an amendment to the 2002 and 2008 farm bills. Those already require the origin of fish and shellfish to be known. The new law covers cuts of lamb, chicken, goat and pork; ground beef; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; and peanuts, pecans and macadamia nuts, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It also includes ginseng.

The rule allows retailers various labeling options. Stores can mark goods, packages, shelves or bins with tags that say "Product of the U.S.A" or "California Grown," for example. They could appear on stickers, placards, stamps, bands, twist-ties and pin tags.

On Display
On Monday, national grocery chains Vons, Albertsons and Ralphs in San Luis Obispo already had labels adhered to some foods in their produce and meat departments.

At Vons on Broad Street, avocados from Chile, oranges from Australia and kiwis from New Zealand carried individual stickers with their origins. Beef loin from the United States, Canada and Mexico was marked with a sign at the butcher counter at Albertsons on Foothill Boulevard. And broccoli bunches from the United States were marked with rubber bands at Ralphs on Madonna Road.

Locally based stores such as New Frontiers Natural Foods in San Luis Obispo also had origins on display.

Scolaris Food Co. in San Luis Obispo had its labels en route to its stores Monday, said spokesman John Stampfli. Cookie Crock Warehouses in Morro Bay, Arroyo Grande and Cambria also had their labels ready, management said.

Markings that tell shoppers which state or region goods are from are also an option for stores, according to the USDA.

That's good news for Central Coast retailers who want to embrace the spirit of the law on the local level as well.

Spencer's Fresh Markets in Morro Bay, Arroyo Grande and Atascadero, for example, are in talks to use labels that represent fresh goods from area farmers and ranchers through Central Coast Grown, said Debra Garrison, president of the local nonprofit group.

One option is that the organization could supply Spencer's stores with a host of shelf tags and then negotiate cost sharing, such as paying 50 percent of the materials, Garrison said.

Costs of Labeling
Nationwide, the labeling imposes an estimated cost of $2.5 billion in the first year on the food industry, according to USDA economists.

National retailers declined comment to The Tribune on whether they will raise consumer prices to make up for the costs of producing and placing the labels.

Suppliers must provide the retailer with records of origin, although grocers are ultimately responsible for labeling before products reach the consumer, according to the USDA.

Restaurants, lunchrooms, cafeterias, food stands, bars, lounges and similar enterprises are exempt from the labeling requirements, according to the USDA.

Frozen mixed vegetables or marinated meats, items that are considered processed, are also exempt.