2/10 Action Alert! Protect the Right to Grow Food!
This week, legislators need to hear from us to protect the Right to Grow Food for homesteaders, including the right to raise livestock and to sell food!
Due to a 2025 Vermont Supreme Court ruling, farms and farming in VT are no longer exempt from municipal zoning, meaning towns can regulate where food can be grown, which animals can be raised, and when machinery can be operated, among other possibilities. We are working with other agricultural organizations and lawmakers to address this, and restore the exemption - but we’re meeting resistance. You may be particularly vulnerable to increased regulatory requirements if:
You are a farmer or homesteader with livestock on fewer than 4 acres, who sells anything you produce.
You are operating near a downtown, village, or "planned growth area" (or Tier 1a or 1b area; learn about this here).
You make less than $5,000 each year from farm products, or qualify as a farm under the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) by filing a Schedule F.
Now is the time to contact us and the legislature to make sure your voice is heard and that they understand how you could be impacted by these changes.