Tuesday, May 12, 2015 was a very good day for small farmers and their patrons in the Maine State Legislature. The Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry met to have work sessions on four local food rights bills. The results were extremely gratifying for those of us who have worked so hard to protect the people of Maine's rights to practice their traditional food ways. These are just preliminary results, but the strong support of the committee will go a long way to helping these bills pass on the floors of the House and the Senate.

LD # 925: An Act To Promote Small Diversified Farms and Small Food Producers
 

Summary: This bill facilitates direct sales between Maine farmers and consumers. It allows persons preparing food in their own homes to sell directly to consumers or to offer homemade food at certain events without being licensed as food establishments.

The bill, sponsored by one of our strongest allies in the House (Representative Ralph Chapman), was voted out of committee with a strong Ought To Pass with only one representative voting against it. 

LD # 1291: An Act To Promote Food Self-Sufficiency for the People of the State
 

Summary: This bill directs the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, in coordination with various state agencies, to develop and administer an agricultural jobs network linking farms and facilities that process agricultural products grown in the State with available workers who are involved in farming or a local food industry or who are required to perform community service and to develop an educational marketing campaign to promote food self-sufficiency by encouraging the public to grow gardens, to raise farm animals and to preserve garden-grown food. This bill also requires the department, to the extent practicable, to purchase food grown, harvested, prepared, processed or produced in the State when purchasing food for an emergency or supplemental food program for elderly or low-income persons.

This is Representative Craig Hickman's bill that covers all of our bases and was voted out of committee with a unanimous Ought to Pass with a slight amendment to clarify language about end consumers.

LD # 1376: An Act To Establish a Local Food Producers and Processors to Consumers Pilot Program
 

Summary: This bill establishes the Local Food Producers and Processors to Consumers Pilot Program. The pilot program exempts local producers and processors in the towns of Blue Hill, Brooksville, Penobscot, Sedgwick and Brooklin, all of which have adopted local food self-governance ordinances, from all state licensure and inspection requirements with respect to the production and processing of local foods for sale directly to consumers. The pilot program is repealed in 2022. Each year the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is required to submit a report on the pilot program to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over agricultural matters including any assessment of or comments about the pilot program provided by interested persons, including producers, processors and consumers participating in the pilot program. Upon receipt of the report, the committee may report out a bill relating to the pilot program.

This bill was sponsored by Senator Brian Langley and was voted out of committee unanimously as Ought to Pass. The towns listed are some of the first to pass the local food sovereignty ordinance and were chosen because of their geographic closeness that allows for the easy forming of a local food council.

LD # 1284: An Act To Expand the Local Foods Economy

Summary: This bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to administer programs to support the expansion and coordination of the use of fresh Maine foods in aggregated and institutional markets, including school food service programs.

The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is directed to provide grants under the agricultural development grant program for the purpose of conducting market feasibility studies and developing business plans for local food infrastructure operations in Maine to connect and enhance relationships between fresh food producers in Maine and aggregated and institutional markets, including school food service programs, and food purveyors. The Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry may not award a local foods grant unless the applicant provides matching funds in an amount that is no less than 50% of the grant amount.

The department is also directed to provide loans under the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund to applicants in diverse geographic areas in the State for the purpose of establishing local food infrastructure operations located in Maine. Prior to awarding a local food infrastructure loan, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is required to determine that the potential overall impact of a proposal on Maine's agricultural economy and industry is beneficial to and in the best interest of the State.

The bill also establishes the Maine Food Infrastructure Advisory Committee, which includes representatives of statewide and regional organizations involved in supporting agriculture, public health, the environment and the state economy, including representatives of the member entities of the farm-to-school work group established by Resolve 2009, chapter 106.

This excellent bill introduced by Senator Chris Johnson and co-sponsored by five members of the committee (Hickman, Dill, Saviello, Chapman and Marean) sadly passed out of committee on a divided vote 7-5, Ought Not to Pass. It may still go to a vote in the two houses so there is still hope. It addresses our critical need to the local food infrastructure.