Locavores have a new ally coming their way: country of origin labels on food. Beginning September 30th, all meat, fish, poultry, produce and nuts will carry labels letting consumers know where they came from. Meat and fish sold in butcher shops are exempt from this law, but hopefully you can just ask the butcher.

So, why is country of origin labeling so important? It’s not only helpful for finding what’s locally grown, but if there’s a food-related disease outbreak, it’ll be easier to avoid foods from the country where the outbreak originated. And those of you hot on the raw almond trail will have an easier time finding them unpasteurized (currently, no almonds grown in California are truly raw, but we’re hoping that’ll change soon).

Image: sirenbrian