The Freedom Selectmen were presented with a Food Sovereignty Ordinance at Monday's meeting. They'll consider it for a week and decide whether to put it on the warrant for Town Meeting, the second Saturday in March. They know that if they fail to put it on the warrant, there'll be a citizens' petition, and that would require a special Town Meeting and the extra costs associated with that. My guess is that the Selectmen, being frugal people sensing the inevitability of this initiative, will agree to put it on the warrant.
If you'd like more information on Food Sovereignty, on Maine communities' food sovereignty initiative, or on how to create and present an ordinance for your Town, send me an email.
Here's the text of the proposed ordinance:
Local Food and Community
Self-Governance Ordinance of 2015
An Ordinance to Protect the
Health and Integrity of the Local Food System in the Town of Freedom, Waldo
County, Maine
Section 1. Name.
This Ordinance shall be known and
may be cited as the “Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance.”
Section 2. Definitions.
As used in this ordinance:
a. “Patron” means an individual who is
the last person to purchase any product or preparation directly from a
processor or producer and who
does not resell the product or preparation.
b. “Home consumption” means consumed
within a private home.
c. Local Foods” means any food or food
product that is grown, produced, or processed by individuals who sell directly
to their patrons through farm-based sales or buying clubs, at farmers markets,
roadside stands, fundraisers or at community social events.
d. “Processor” means any individual who
processes or prepares products of the soil or animals for food or drink.
e. “Producer” means any farmer or
gardener who grows any plant or animal for food or drink.
f. “Community social event” means an
event where people gather as part of a community for the benefit of those
gathering, or for the community, including but not limited to a church or
religious social, school event, potluck, neighborhood gathering, library
meeting, traveling food sale, fundraiser, craft fair, farmers market and other
public events.
Section 3. Preamble and Purpose.
We the People of the Town of
Freedom, Waldo County, Maine have the right to produce, process, sell, purchase
and consume local foods thus promoting self-reliance, the preservation of
family farms, and local food traditions. We recognize that family farms,
sustainable agricultural practices, and food processing by individuals,
families and non-corporate entities offers stability to our rural way of life
by enhancing the economic, environmental and social wealth of our community. As
such, our right to a local food system requires us to assert our inherent right
to self-government. We recognize the authority to protect that right as
belonging to the Town of Freedom.
We have faith in our citizens’
ability to educate themselves and make informed decisions. We hold that federal
and state regulations impede local food production and constitute an usurpation
of our citizens’ right to foods of their choice. We support food that
fundamentally respects human dignity and health, nourishes individuals and the
community, and sustains producers, processors and the environment. We are
therefore duty bound under the Constitution of the State of Maine to protect
and promote unimpeded access to local foods.
The purpose of the Local Food and
Community Self-Governance Ordinance is to:
i. Provide citizens with unimpeded access
to local food;
ii.
Enhance the local economy by
promoting the production and purchase of local agricultural products;
iii.
Protect access to farmers’ markets,
roadside stands, farm based sales
and direct producer to patron sales;
iv.
Support the economic viability of
local food producers and processors;
v. Preserve community social events where
local foods are served or
sold;
vi. Preserve local knowledge and traditional
foodways.
Section 4. Authority.
This Ordinance is adopted and
enacted pursuant to the inherent, inalienable, and fundamental right of the
citizens of the Town of Freedom to self-government, and under the authority
recognized as belonging to the people of the Town by all relevant state and
federal laws including, but not limited to the following:
The
Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, which declares that governments are instituted to secure
peoples’ rights, and that government derives its just powers from the consent
of the governed.
Article
I, § 2 of the Maine Constitution, which declares: “all power is inherent in the
people; all free governments are founded in their authority and instituted for
their benefit, [and that] they have therefore an unalienable and indefeasible
right to institute government and to alter, reform, or totally change the same
when their safety and happiness require it.”
§3001
of Title 30-A of the Maine Revised Statutes, which grants municipalities all
powers necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of
the Town of Freedom.
§1-A
of Title 7 of the Maine Revised Statutes which states: “The survival of the
family farm is of special concern to the people of the State, and the ability
of the family farm to prosper, while producing an abundance of high quality
food and fiber, deserves a place of high priority in the determination of
public policy.”
§1-B of Title 7 of the
Maine Revised Statutes which states: “...The preservation of rural life and values
in the State [is] the joint responsibility of all public agencies, local, state
and federal, whose policies and programs substantially impact the economy and
general welfare of people who reside in rural Maine, such as the development
and implementation of programs that assist in the maintenance of family
farms... and improve health and nutrition. The state agencies in addition to
the department include, but are not limited to, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services,
Department of Labor and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and
Forestry.
§201-A of Title 7-A of the
Maine Revised Statutes which states: “It is the policy of the State to
encourage food self-sufficiency for its citizens. The department (Department of
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry) shall support policies that:
1.
Local Control. Through local control preserve the abilities of communities to
produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume locally produced foods....
3.
Improved Health and Well-Being. Improve the health and well-being of citizens
of this State by reducing hunger and increasing food security through improved
access to wholesome, nutritious foods by supporting family farms and
encouraging sustainable farming and fishing;
4.
Self-reliance and personal responsibility. Promote self-reliance and personal
responsibility by ensuring the ability of individuals, families and other
entities to prepare, process, advertise and sell foods directly to customers
intended solely for consumption by the customers or their families...
Section 5. Statements of Law.
Section
5.1. Licensure/Inspection Exemption.
Producers
or processors of local foods in the Town of Freedom are exempt from licensure and inspection provided that the
transaction is only between the producer or processor and a patron when the
food is sold for home consumption. This includes
any producer or processor who sells his or her products at farmers’ markets or
roadside stands; sells his or her products through farm-based sales directly to
a patron; or delivers his or her products directly to patrons.
Section
5.1.a. Licensure/Inspection Exemption.
Producers
or processors of local foods in the Town of Freedom are exempt from licensure and inspection provided that their
products are prepared for, consumed, or sold at a community social event.
Section
5.2. Right to Access and Produce Food.
Freedom
citizens possess the right to save and exchange seed; produce, process, sell,
purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing.
Section
5.3. Right to Self-Governance.
All
citizens of Freedom possess the right to a form of governance which recognizes
that all power is inherent in the people, that all free governments are founded
on the people’s authority and consent.
Section
5.4. Right to Enforce.
Freedom
citizens possess the right to adopt measures which prevent the violation of the
rights enumerated in this Ordinance.
Section 6. Statement of Law. Implementation.
The
following restrictions and provisions serve to implement the preceding
statements of law.
Section
6.1. State and Federal Law.
It
shall be unlawful for any law or regulation adopted by the state or federal
government to interfere with the rights recognized by this Ordinance. It shall
be unlawful for any corporation to interfere with the rights recognized by this
Ordinance. The term “corporation” shall mean any business entity organized
under the laws of any state or country.
Section
6.2. Patron Liability Protection.
Patrons
purchasing food for home consumption may enter into private agreements with
those producers or processors of local foods to waive any liability for the
consumption of that food. Producers or processors of local foods shall be
exempt from licensure and inspection requirements for that food as long as
those agreements are in effect.
Section 7. Civil Enforcement.
The Town of Freedom may enforce
the provisions of this Ordinance through seeking equitable relief from a court
of competent jurisdiction. Any individual citizen of the Town of Freedom shall
have standing to vindicate any rights secured by this ordinance which have been
violated or which are threatened with violation, and may seek relief both in
the form of injunctive and compensatory relief from a court of competent
jurisdiction.
Section 8. Town Action against
Pre-emption.
The foundation for making and
adoption of this law is the peoples’ fundamental and inalienable right to
govern themselves, and thereby secure their rights to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. Any attempt to use other units and levels of government
to preempt, amend, alter or overturn this Ordinance or parts of this Ordinance
shall require the Town to hold public meetings that explore the adoption of
other measures that expand local control and the ability of citizens to protect
their fundamental and inalienable right to self-government.
Section 9. Effect
.
This Ordinance shall be effective
immediately upon its enactment.
Section 10. Severability Clause.
To the extent any provision of
this Ordinance is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such
provision will be removed from the Ordinance, and the balance of the Ordinance
shall remain valid.
Section 11. Repealer.
All inconsistent provisions of
prior Ordinances adopted by the Town of Freedom are hereby repealed, but only
to the extent necessary to remedy the inconsistency.
Section 12. Human Rights and
Constitutionality.
Nothing in this ordinance shall
be construed as authorizing any activities or actions that violate human rights
protected by the U.S. Constitution or the Constitution of the State of Maine.