Sedgwick,
Maine is first town to declare total food sovereignty, opposing state
and federal laws
25
March, 2013
There
is a food revolution taking hold all over America, whether it is in
the form of demanding labeling of GM foods, the right to produce and
sell raw milk and other commodities, or - in the case of Sedgwick,
Maine - declaring all local food transactions of any kind free and
legal.
According
to the website FoodRenegade.com,
Sedgwick is the first city in the U.S. to free itself from the
constraints of federal and state food regulation. Published reports
say the town has passed an ordinance that gives its citizens the
right "to produce, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of
their choosing," regulations be damned. The ordinance includes
raw milk, meats that are slaughtered locally, all produce and just
about anything else you might imagine.
And
what's more, three additional towns in Maine are expected to take up
similar ordinances soon, said the FoodRenegade.com.
Gee
- good, ol' fashioned buyer-seller agreements?
Observers
of the Sedgwick ordinance say it is much more than just "statement"
legislation. Writes blogger David Grumpert, at
TheCompletePatient.com:
This
isn't just a declaration of preference. The proposed warrant added,
"It shall be unlawful for any law or regulation adopted by the
state or federal government to interfere with the rights recognized
by this Ordinance." In other words, no state licensing
requirements prohibiting certain farms from selling dairy products or
producing their own chickens for sale to other citizens in the town.
What
about potential legal liability and state or federal inspections?
It's all up to the seller and buyer to negotiate. "Patrons
purchasing food
for home consumption may enter into private agreements with those
producers or processors of local foods to waive any liability for the
consumption of that food. Producers or processors of local foods
shall be exempt from licensure and inspection requirements for that
food as long as those agreements are in effect." Imagine
that-buyer and seller can agree to cut out the lawyers. That's almost
un-American, isn't it?
(1)
Producers or processors of local foods in the Town of Sedgwick are
exempt from licensure and inspection provided that the transaction is
only between the producer or processor and a patron when the food is
sold for home consumption.
(2)
Producers or processors of local foods in the Town of Sedgwick are
exempt from licensure and inspection provided that the products are
prepared for, consumed or sold at a community social event.
For
those questioning the legality of the ordinance - as in, it obviously
circumvents state and federal
food laws - she notes:
[W]e
the radicals who concocted this mutinous act of infamy believe that
according to the Home Rule provisions of our State Constitution, the
citizens of Sedgwick have the right to enact an ordinance that is
"local and municipal in character."
'It's
about time'
Many
of the local farmers say the ordinance is just what is needed.
"This
ordinance creates favorable conditions for beginning farmers and
cottage-scale food processors to try out new products, and to make
the most of each season's bounty," farmer Bob St. Peter told the
website FoodFreedom.com.
"My family is already working on some ideas we can do from home
to help pay the bills and get our farm going."
"Tears
of joy welled in my eyes as my town
voted to adopt this ordinance," said Sedgwick resident and local
farm patron Mia 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 is a board member of the National
Family Farm Council,
a food
freedom
advocacy group, notes that small farmers have a much tougher row to
hoe, especially in today's economy, so they need the ability to sell
their products more freely.
"It's
tough making a go of it in rural America," he said. "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."
Sources:
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