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Action Alert

Stop the Wyoming Dept. of Ag from Stealing Your Food Rights   

Take Action Now! Support Efforts of Rep. Sue Wallis

The Wyoming Department of Agriculture is quietly proposing rules and regulations that are not laws passed by the Legislature: 
  • These bureaucrats want to take away your right to own a cow and hire someone else to feed, care for, and milk that cow for you so that you and your family can enjoy fresh milk, cream, and all of the wonderful products thereof;
  • Make it illegal for you to sell salad greens out of your garden at a Farmers Market without first obtaining a "potentially hazardous" license from the Department of Agriculture. This means you could not cut the greens and wash them in your own kitchen, it would have to be in a "certified" kitchen that would cost thousands of dollars to comply. 
  • Make it impossible to buy fresh local eggs at your local grocery store. 
All of these changes are being proposed under the guise of food safety. Wyoming does not need or want the government to decide what we can eat, or who we can buy it from. Take action TODAY to stop this egregious intrusion into your constitutional rights! 

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO

1. Plan to attend any hearings to testify in person to register your strong opposition to the adoption of these proposed rules.   

 

2. Overnight written comments or request for a public hearing. Emails and faxes might be ignored. Written comments must be received no later than this Wednesday, May 23rd addressed to:  Wyoming Dept. of Agriculture, 2219 Carey Ave, Cheyenne, WY 82002.

 

3. Call, write, email the Governor's office and your legislators - request that this administration stop making rules and regulations without being legislated upon. Emphasize that the proposed rule is not needed and is over-regulation.  

Contact info: Governor's OfficeState Senators, and   

State Representatives.

 

4. Write letters to editors of local Wyoming papers, call in to local radio shows, etc. Post and share on Facebook and other media sites, ask your friends, family, farms and ranches to get involved.

Changes
PROPOSED RULE CHANGES
Proposed Changes You Should Be Concerned About: 

We are still analyzing the proposed changes, but here are a few things that you may want to know more about, and to question why the Department would propose such changes...  
Proposed new language is underlined. Existing language that is being proposed to be deleted is in [brackets].                                   
Chapter 1 -

...proposed definition added

 

(xxxix)"Cut leafy greens" means fresh leafy greens whose leaves have been cut, shredded, sliced, chopped, or torn. The term "leafy greens" includes iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, baby leaf lettuce (i.e., immature lettuce or leafy greens), escarole, endive, spring mix, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard. The term "leafy greens" does not include herbs such as cilantro or parsley.

 

...proposed adding cut leafy greens to definition of potentially hazardous food

 

(cxxv) "Potentially Hazardous Food (Time/Temperature Control for 1-21 Safety Food)."

(B) "Potentially hazardous food (time/temperature control for safety food)" includes:

(I) An animal food that is raw or heat-treated; a plant food that is heat treated or consists of raw seed sprouts, cut melons, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes or mixtures of cut tomatoes [ that are not modified in a way so that they are unable to support pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation,] or garlic-in-oil mixtures that are not modified in a way that results in mixtures that do not to be unable to support pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation; 

 

...Declaring that only the "sole owner" can use fresh milk from a cow or goat, effectively takes the private property rights of anyone who owns a share, and this prohibition does not currently exist anywhere in Wyoming rule or law. This makes it impossible for anyone who does not live on a farm or ranch to own milking animals, to use what their private property produces, or to choose the rich, healthy, natural food they want for their family. This rule, if imposed, would result in the State of Wyoming having to compensate all share owners for their loss. This compensation would be due to not only the share owners, but to the farm or ranch that is hired to maintain and milk animals for others. It would result in the loss of Wyoming's dairy animals, including rare breeds of dairy animals because even one cow will produce more milk than one ranch or farm family can use, all others owned by share holders will have to be sold or destroyed at a total loss. Those families dependent upon fresh milk for health reasons will be forced to drive many hours every week to get the fresh milk they want out of state. 

 

Chapter 3 -

 

Section 8. Fluid Milk and Milk Products.

(i) This subsection does not apply to individuals who obtain milk from animals solely owned by them, members of their family, or their employer and who furnish raw milk or products made from raw milk only to members of their family or nonpaying guests.

 

Chapter 15 -

 

...New Chapter 15 pertaining to the grading of eggs before they can be sold to any establishment would eliminate the existing ability to sell "ungraded ranch eggs" in grocery stores, and would require every egg producer to build a separate facility complete with a bathroom, separate sinks, coolers, etc. etc. etc. -which totally eliminates the feasibility for the product of small farm flocks to be able to be sold in Wyoming.

About the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund:

FTCLDF is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization made up of farmers and consumers joining together and pooling resources to protect the constitutional rights of the nation's family farms and the consumers who patronize them. Annual membership is $125 for Farmers and Artisan Food Producers and $50 for Consumers.   

 Join FTCLDF Now!  

Visit www.farmtoconsumer.org or call 703-208-3276   

 

Quarterly and monthly membership payment plans are available. Buyers clubs, CSAs, farmers markets, etc. can join as Affiliate Communities for as low as $250/year plus $5 for each associated member above the first 50; ask for details. 

Donations to the Fund are not tax-deductible. Ask about options to make tax-deductible donations. 

Food Freedom

Wyoming Food Freedom 

 Sign Petition  

& Follow Blog  

 

Elected Officials

Or call (307) 777-7434

 

State Senate Members

Or call (307) 777-7881    

  

State House Members  

Or call (307) 777-7881    

Wyoming Food Freedom
Before the May 23rd deadline, a letter from Wyoming Food Freedom will be hand-delivered to the Wyoming Dept. of Ag. along with the collected petition signatures added online by close of business Monday, May 21st.

Please feel free to call/email Sue Wallis if you would like to discuss this or if you have any questions or suggestion on how we fight this battle.

State Rep. Sue Wallis
- WY District 52 
(307) 680-8515  (cell) (307) 685-8248  (ranch)
[email protected]
SWallis 
Sue Wallis
Re-Election Sue Walls for House District 52

Dedicated to the constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal conservatism, and individual freedom.

Running for her fourth term, Sue Wallis is nationally recognized as a leader, and an effective, articulate advocate for animal agriculture, food freedom and energy independence.


She has introduced bills favorable to food rights and small farms.
















































 
 
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