New bill would let small farms sell meat

Times Argus
February 13, 2008
By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau
Original Article Here

MONTPELIER – Peter Harvey seems an unlikely law-breaker.

Three years ago, the stay-at-home dad and part-time furniture maker set out on his latest venture – backyard farming.

He wanted to raise pigs on his grassy Calais acreage. Since pigs are social animals, he wanted more than one. And since his family can eat only so much pork, he planned to sell much of the harvest to friends and neighbors.

But according to Vermont's interpretation of federal rules, meat must pass through a federally approved slaughterhouse before it can be legally sold in the state. Because Harvey downs his animals in the same yard they were raised, he was in fact breaking the law.

"They told me I couldn't sell the meat," Harvey says. "I had to return all the checks."

A new law would allow Harvey and dozens of other small farmers around the state to raise and sell their meat locally without enduring the costs and hassles associated with the federally inspected slaughterhouse facilities.

Under Vermont law, meat sold in Vermont has to be federally inspected. An exemption, though, allows the "owner" of livestock to legally provide the meat to his immediate family without going to an approved slaughterhouse.

The proposed law, introduced by Rep. Janet Ancel (D-Calais), would extend ownership of animals to anyone who buys into a farm animal before slaughter time arrives. So if Harvey collects the checks up front, the customers would own the animals, thus qualifying for the exemption.

"I think we ought to be able to do that if we want," Harvey says. "I'd like to see farmland left open, and the only way for it to stay a working landscape is to work it."

Kelly Loftus, public information officer for the Agency of Agriculture, says the agency will research the implications of the bill before issuing an opinion.

"Until we know better how it would influence our standing with the federal government, we won't take a position on the bill at this time," Loftus says.

Amy Shollenberger, the executive director of Rural Vermont, says the existing law criminalizes a proud Vermont agricultural tradition.

"People wouldn't have to skulk around and be very undercover about providing their neighbors with quality meat," she says.

Shollenberger knows of dozens of small farmers who sell their un-inspected meat on a small-time basis. Access to federal facilities can be difficult to small farmers, and high prices, as well as concerns over the humaneness of slaughtering practices there, have kept many Vermont farmers from using the facilities.

In addition, Shollenberger says, a growing ethnic population in the state demands that its goats be slaughtered in accordance with certain religious standards not observed by federally approved facilities.

"I know of a few dozen farms for sure that would benefit, but it's really hard to say because … the fact that it's illegal means people aren't very forthcoming in sharing the information that they're doing it," Shollenberger says.

As a vegetarian, Ancel won't benefit directly from the legislation she has introduced. But she says the state ought to ensure that Vermonters can support local farms without breaking the law.

"I believe very strongly in local food, and if I did eat meat, I'd like it to be raised by someone I knew … so this proposal makes a lot of sense to me," Ancel says.

Ancel says humane slaughtering practices and responsible consumerism are furthered by the legislation.

"The factory meat system is not environmentally sound, and in many cases it is not humane either," Ancel says. "For people who want to eat locally, and contribute to their community in all the ways that eating locally does, there ought to be a place for it."