The Maine Legislature will meet in special session on Nov. 1 to fix the state’s recently adopted food sovereignty law. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is prepared to take over all meat and poultry inspections in the state if the lawmakers fail to enact and amendment. Maine Gov. Paul LePage called the emergency special session in… Continue Reading
Two bills, one to enact a “Food Freedom” statute and the other to continue only pasteurized milk sales, followed a similar course during the recently completed session of the North Dakota Legislature in Bismarck. Both bills were signed into law. One was not exactly the price of passing the other, but the sponsor of the “Food… Continue Reading
A Missouri state legislator wants to give people the right to sell farm-produced products directly to the consumer without any interference from state or local regulatory agencies. House Bill 866 is similar to the fast-moving Wyoming “Food Freedom Act,” which unanimously passed the House in Cheyenne late last month and is now in line for… Continue Reading
Since 2010, there have been waves of bills involving food and food safety washing through state capitals on subjects such as cottage foods, agricultural security, raw milk, and labeling food products containing genetically modified ingredients. The 2015 legislative sessions underway in 47 of the 50 states are different. In this second part of our look… Continue Reading
Editorial writers for Wyoming’s largest and capital city newspapers want the state Senate to reject the “Food Freedom Act” that just unanimously passed the state House of Representatives. “The measure, which lawmakers recently described as ‘an old friend,’ has come calling previously in many forms,” the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle editorialized this past Friday. “Indeed, it has been… Continue Reading
A Wyoming “Food Freedom” bill is about to come to a final vote in the House of Representatives in Cheyenne. It has already survived a first floor vote, having gained approval Friday from the House Committee of the Whole. Wyoming House Bill 56, which also cleared the House Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water… Continue Reading
A bill to open the door to raw milk distribution in Wyoming was slammed shut after it missed a key cutoff date. It is unlikely the Wyoming Legislature will see any further action taken on Senate File 0112. Wyoming bans the sale of raw milk, but SF 0112 would have allowed holders of “small herd… Continue Reading
Opinion
Long before 9/11, I knew a couple of guys who worked for an electric company and they traveled by commercial airlines a good deal. I don’t how it started, but at some point they got into competition with one another over who could make the most last minute arrival and still get on a flight…. Continue Reading