By Brandi Buzzard on June 3, 2026
Is the FAIR Labels Act Fair?
Ranchers say “Yes!”
Trust is hard to earn and harder to retain.
As a business owner, my goal at High Bar Cattle Company is to earn the trust of our bull buyers and beef customers by offering high-quality bulls and delicious beef. Once we’ve earned their trust, we strive to retain it through transparency, high-level customer service and listening to our customers’ needs and concerns.
On the flip side, as a consumer, once I trust a business or product, it has my loyalty until I have a reason to change. And part of that, as I mentioned before, is transparency. I want to know the brands and companies I support are forthright, honest and aren’t employing shady marketing tactics to wrench my dollars away. For me, transparency and trust go hand in hand and that’s why I am a proponent of accurate and fair labeling laws when it comes to our food.
Last month, the Fair and Accurate Ingredient Representation (FAIR) on Labels Act was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Ricketts (R-Nebraska) and Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania). The Fair Labels Act aims to mandate strict labeling for plant-based and cell-cultured meat alternatives. The goal of the FAIR Labels Act is not an attempt to control what people eat by banning the production or sale of cell-cultured meat. It's a labeling law, not a production law. Instead, it seeks to provide clear and accurate labeling regarding the food on our grocery store shelves.
If passed, the FAIR Labels Act would:
- Amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to ensure customers can discern between meat and poultry products and imitation meat and imitation poultry products
- Prohibit the sale of mislabeled cell-cultivated protein or plant-based alternative protein products.
Let me make it explicitly clear I am not in favor of banning the production or sale of plant-based products as we’ve seen in states such as Nebraska, Florida and Montana. If consumers want choices, we as ranchers — similarl to plant growers — are happy to provide those choices and let shoppers make their decisions with their dollars. However, I am very much in favor of accurate labeling, meaning plant-based products shouldn’t be allowed to use “meat” on the package. Furthermore, I don’t believe “milk” should be on dairy alternatives such as soy, macadamia or almond beverages.
This isn't the first legislation of its kind — similar actions have been taken and passed in state governments, even here in Kansas — but there isn't a federal labeling law such as this. For example, emotionally charged labels like "cruelty-free steak" would not be allowed.
Currently, the FAIR Labels Act is waiting in committee but I’m actively watching to see how it progresses and if it makes it all the way across the finish line to become law.
As grocery shoppers, we deserve to have our food accurately labeled and free from fear-based marketing terms that come with a higher price tag but no increased nutrition or value.
