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Bill targets meatless meat labeling By STEPHEN KORANDA Kansas News Service
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Teacher, author in Iola today David French, who grew up in Moran and Iola before becoming a long-time educator in Osawatomie, will be at the Iola Public Library tonight at David 7 o’clock to French sign copies of his book “The Last Hug: A Storm Is Coming.” The book details several traumatic events in French’s life, and how he turned to faith to aid in his recovery. The event is open to the public.
TOPEKA, Kansas — Vegetarian meat alternatives are growing in popularity, with “Chick’n Strips” and “Porkless Bites” filling freezer cases in some Kansas grocery stores. But following a handful of states, a bill in the Kansas Statehouse would clamp down on how meatless-meat products are labeled. Backed by the Kansas Livestock Association, the bill would require more specific labeling for meat substitutes, with words such as “imitation” included in front of phrases like “meatballs.” At least six states have taken action requiring extra labeling for the plant-based foods, including neighboring Missouri, which was the first in the nation to do so. The fight comes as plantbased meat substitute sales jumped 17% between 2018 and 2019, according to the advocacy group the Good Food Institute. The livestock association believes labels using meat terms on vegetarian products could confuse consumers. “We just want to make sure everyone is clear as to what we’re buying and selling,”said Aaron Popelka, who is the vice president of legal and government affairs for the Kansas Livestock Association. He also said shoppers who
Vegetarian meat alternatives in a Lawrence grocery store. KANSAS NEWS SERVICE/STEPHEN KORANDA accidentally buy vegetarian alternatives means lost sales to Kansas’ $8.3 billion cattle industry. If someone unknowingly buys an imitation beef product and doesn’t like it, that ultimately could hurt their opinion of beef. Some lawmakers also said they were concerned by the labels on some plant-based products. “We see ‘Beyond Meat,’ ‘Beyond Beef,’ ‘crumbles,’ ‘beefy,’” Republican Rep. Trevor Jacobs said at a hearing Thursday. “That makes me think it’s going to be hamburger beef from a cow, not from a head of lettuce.” The labels on meat alternatives typically include phrases like “plant-based” or
“meat-free.” To Democratic Rep. Rui Xu, those terms are clear. Xu said everyone he knows is familiar with terms like “Impossible Burger,” and know that meat substitutes are typically in a separate section of a grocery store. “Nobody is buying those thinking they’re getting real meat,” Xu said. He added that it makes more sense to leave the labeling rules to the federal government, as it’s done now, and not subject companies to a patchwork of state laws. The Good Food Institute, which is against the bill, told lawmakers that sales of the items are growing specifically because people are seeking
out meat alternatives. It also argued there could be free speech concerns if lawmakers were to limit how plantbased foods are labeled. “Consumer choice — not censorship — should determine winners and losers in the marketplace,” GFI’s Scott Weathers said. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice. org.
The secret of Cooper’s Cave A heart of stone. Cold, unopened and unbending. Weary. Battered by the elements but unbroken. About seven miles northwest of Yates Center, hidden in a pasture, is the natural
Trevor Hoag John Bolton FLICKR.COM
Democrats renew calls for Bolton to testify
Just Prairie geological formation known as Cooper’s Cave. Made of native limestone, and carved by water and time, its series of boulders huddle together like enormous ancient beings that have solidified and become one with the prairie over the course of millennia. The cave gets its name from a fellow by the name of William Cooper, who ranched this land along Owl Creek back in the 1870s. What many titles the indigenous people who lived here over the course of centuries had given it before, one can only imagine. Not long ago, I visited the cave with its present steward, Nick Barney, who today, does a little bit of everything: cattle, hay, alfalfa, corn and beans. He mentioned that Vol. 121, No. 318 Iola, KS 75 Cents
Woodson County native Nick Barney, maneuvers his way between rock formations at Cooper’s Cave northwest of Yates Center. REGISTER/TREVOR HOAG sometimes he and his dad grow wheat, but that in the last few years there hasn’t been any money in it. Nick is also Chief of the Yates Center Volunteer Fire
Department, though given the extensive time required to do so, he’s not bashful about saying he’d gratefully See CAVE | Page A4
WASHINGTON (AP) — The stakes over witness testimony at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial are rising now that a draft of a book from former national security adviser John Bolton appears to undercut a key defense argument — that Trump never tied withholding of aid to Ukraine to a demand the country investigate rival Joe Biden. Bolton writes in the forthcoming book that Trump told him that he wanted to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid from Ukraine until it helped him with investigations into Biden. Trump’s legal team has repeatedly insisted other-
wise. Today, a person familiar with the case said the White House has had Bolton’s manuscript for at least a month, and has challenged his use of certain material it considers classified. The account immediately gave Democrats new fuel in their pursuit of sworn testimony from Bolton and other witnesses, a question expected to be taken up later this week by the Republican-led Senate. The trial resumes this afternoon with arguments from Trump’s defense team. Rep. Adam Schiff, who led the House impeachment inSee BOLTON | Page A4
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