For the majority of this country’s history, unregulated farmer-to-consumer direct commerce was the norm in most of the United States. Consumers could even purchase meat, a food heavily regulated today, from farmers that were not
Getting from “Es-carg-no” to Escargot
FTCLDF member Ric Brewer, owner at Little Gray Farms Escargots, had a potentially profitable niche business lined up—selling snails to restaurants—but USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service created obstacles
Raw Butter Is a Communicable Disease
Ridiculous, but true: The FDA is telling us that it can ban raw butter in interstate commerce under its power to regulate communicable disease.
Why is this ban silly?
– Raw butter has the safest record of any dairy product and has not been proven to cause any food borne illness.
– The law doesn’t allow the FDA to take this action.
PRIME Act Introduced in the Senate
Washington, D.C.—March 9, 2016—Yesterday, Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the PRIME (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption) Act, lending Senate support for Representatives
Slaughterhouse Shortage in the U.S.
In 1967, at the time of the passage of the Wholesome Meat Act, there were nearly 10,000 slaughterhouses in the country. The table below from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) on the number of livestock slaughter plants (poultry plants are not included) shows how the local
FTCLDF to Represent OPDC over Raw Butter Petition
The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) has agreed to represent Organic Pastures Dairy Company (OPDC) over OPDC’s citizens petition to modify the interstate ban on
Q & A on the PRIME Act with Joel Salatin
Who is hurt the most by the Federal Meat Inspection Act as it is now written? Is it the small farmer who has to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest USDA slaughterhouse?
PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Representatives Massie and Pingree Reintroduce Milk Freedom Legislation
Washington, D.C.—September 18, 2015—U.S. Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), and a bipartisan coalition of 16 other lawmakers have reintroduced legislation to improve consumer food choices and to protect local farmers from federal
The Wholesome Meat Act of 1967: Disaster for Small Slaughterhouses from the Start
Passage of the PRIME Act [H.R. 3187] would give states the power to legalize the sale of custom processed meat in intrastate commerce (i.e., meat from an animal slaughtered and processed at a facility where an inspector is not required to be present to observe the slaughtering and conduct an
Support H.R. 3187, the PRIME Act (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption)
White Paper on the PRIME Act [H.R. 3187] Prepared by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
House Resolution H.R. 3187, the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act, would give individual states the freedom to pass laws allowing the sale of custom