Ordinance Exempts Local Food Sales From Federal Inspection
Mia Strong, Sedgwick resident and local farm patron, was overwhelmed by the support of her town. “Tears of joy welled in my eyes as my town voted to adopt this ordinance,” said Strong. “I am so proud of my community. They made a stand for local food and our fundamental rights as citizens to choose that food.”
St.Peter, who serves on the board of the National Family Farm Coalition based in Washington, DC, sees this as a model ordinance for economic development in rural areas. “It’s tough making a go of it in rural America,” said St.Peter. “Rural working people have always had to do a little of this and a little of that to make ends meet. But up until the last couple generations, we didn’t need a special license or new facility each time we wanted to sell something to our neighbors. Small farmers and producers have been getting squeezed out in the name of food safety, yet it’s the industrial food that is causing food borne illness, not us.”
“And every food dollar that leaves our community is one more dollar we don’t have to pay for our rural schools or to provide decent care for our elders,” adds St.Peter. “We need the money more than corporate agribusiness.”
Three other towns in Western Hancock County will be voting on the ordinance at or ahead of their town meetings in the coming weeks. Penobscot, Brooksville, and Blue Hill all have the ordinance on their warrants.
Click here to view a copy of the Local Food and Self-Governance Ordinance of 2011.
https://savingseeds.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/localfoodlocalrules-ordinance-template.pdf
Contact:
Bob St.Peter
Saving Seeds Farm
Sedgwick, Maine
207-244-0908
Mia Strong
Local Stock Food Cooperative
Sedgwick, Maine
207-359-8572
News like this just makes me so happy. It’s forward thinking for rural areas hoping to diversity their economic base, keep their communities alive (and perhaps move them toward a state of thriving), and keep land in production rather than sold for development. It’s a small step, but I think pivotal. Thanks for sharing!