Sedgwick becomes first town in Maine to adopt
protections
SEDGWICK, MAINE - On Saturday, March 5, residents
of a small coastal town in Maine voted unanimously to adopt the Local Food and
Self-Governance Ordinance, setting a precedent for other towns looking to
preserve small-scale farming and food processing. Sedgwick, located on the
Blue Hill Peninsula in Western Hancock County, became the first town in Maine,
and perhaps the nation, to exempt direct farm sales from state and federal
licensing and inspection. The ordinance also exempts foods made in the home
kitchen, similar to the Michigan Cottage Food Law passed last year, but
without caps on gross sales or restrictions on types of exempt
foods.
Local farmer Bob St.Peter noted the importance of
this ordinance for beginning farmers and cottage producers. "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," said St.Peter. "My family is already working on some ideas we can do
from home to help pay the bills and get our farm
going."
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.
http://savingseeds.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/localfoodlocalrules-ordinance-template.pdf
Contact:
Bob St.Peter
Saving Seeds Farm
Sedgwick, Maine
207-244-0908
bobstpeter@gmail.com
Mia Strong
Local Stock Food
Cooperative
Sedgwick, Maine
207-359-8572
meezermia@gmail.com