Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
Protecting, defending, and broadening the rights and viability of independent farmers, artisanal food producers, and their consumers.
FTCLDF
in the News
Whether we’re fighting for the Right to Farm, defending family ranches from aggressive regulators, or expanding sales avenues for cottage food producers, we’ve been making headlines since 2007! Here’s a selection of news stories featuring FTCLDF.
Want to interview or quote FTCLDF? Free to reach out to our team. For time-sensitive inquiries, please call our office at (703) 208-FARM (3276).
FarmProgress | 8.25.25
A CA bill would enable county ag commissioners to fine the owners of orchards deemed a “public nuisance” by authorities. FTCLDF is joined in its opposition to this bill by advocates for family farms and the environment.
Daytona Beach News-Journal | 8.23.25
“To my knowledge, the (Florida) Department of Health still has not contacted these farms with an investigation or taken any action against these farms,” Kulwiec said. “Instead, they have published things in the press. And I have deep concerns about that process, the potential due process violations of that.”
Money Pantry | 7.1.2025
“It’s important to check your state’s law when it comes to selling baked goods. But don’t worry, there’s a great shortcut. Instead of clicking through a bunch of government websites, your best first stop is this super helpful map from the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.”
Reason Magazine | 6.28.2025
“Earlier this month, Sarkisian decided to make her protest official by suing the city of Douglas in federal court, with the assistance of the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Specifically, her suit alleges that the city’s ordinance violates her due process rights under the 14th Amendment.”
R Street | 10.12.2024
“Deschaine, with the help of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, is suing the state of Maine over the shutdown.
Regardless of how the legal arguments shake out, it is a wild overreach for regulators to demand that home cooks install commercial kitchens to sell food to neighbors.”
State Court Report | 4.10.2024
“At least one other case has been filed under the amendment, challenging licensing requirements imposed on a home kitchen food business. For now, that case, which is being litigated by the national Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, remains in the trial court.”
FarmProgress | 3.12.2024
“Delaware and New Jersey have banned raw milk sales, and the federal government has banned interstate sale and transport of raw milk. The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund has a map showing various laws by state.”
CanvasRebel | 11.22.2023
“I also learned about an organization called the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, which is an organization that helps protect small farms throughout the country. They agreed to take our case and represent us against our township. Not only did I earn a priceless education, but we became the first farm to win a Right to Farm case at the circuit court level in Michigan.”
Reason Magazine | 8.20.2022
“[T]he producer here was selling meat from animals grown on its land and was therefore exempt from the tax requirements the agency attempted to impose,” says Alexia Kulwiec, executive director of the nonprofit Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (where I serve on the board). “As consumers continue to demand locally produced foods, government agencies should be making it easier rather than more difficult for small producers to provide nutritious food in their communities.”
Reason Magazine | 3.26.2022
“Many states, in adopting the federal exemptions from the Poultry Products Inspection Act, include some regulation of the raising and processing of rabbit meat,” says Alexia Kulwiec, an attorney who leads the nonprofit Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF).
“These exemptions allow for the sale of on-farm processed poultry and rabbits without using inspection facilities. Having a clear statute specifically providing for on-farm processing of rabbits would help the economic sustainability of local farms while providing a local source of protein to interested consumers.”
Civil Eats | 10.19.2020
“’Getting more money for state processing would be fantastic, and we would support that, but allowing more sales out of custom facilities would help even more for a couple of reasons,’ Alexia Kulwiec, executive director of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, said.
Currently, the USDA only allows custom slaughterhouses to process animals for personal consumption by their owner. If the agency were to begin allowing these facilities to be used for commercial sales, that would be a game-changer, she added.”
Reason Magazine | 4.4.2020
“‘The idea for the bill is simple,’ Lindholm—a rancher with whom I serve on the board of the nonprofit Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund—told me this week. ‘Let ranchers and farmers sell herd shares for their animals. That way the entire herd is ‘owned’ by all of the customers before slaughter, thereby meeting the exemption standards of the federal law, and now the rancher does not have to jump through the hoops of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and can utilize the smaller mom and pop butchers that still [exist] in most of our small towns.'”
Salon | 3.12.2019
“’Our position is that people should be able to choose what they eat,’ says Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund’s McGeary, who notes that recent regulatory changes have been hard fought by the mainstream dairy industry and health authorities. The organization is joined by a legion of ‘food freedom’ advocates who accuse the government of maintaining a double standard when it comes to the only food banned from interstate commerce.”
Chicago Tribune | 5.25.2019
“[Yasir] is a member of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, which requested a continuance for the hearing on her behalf, she said.
‘I am highly disappointed, especially since the city just received a USDA grant for urban agriculture…Why are they coming after residents who practice urban agriculture? I am just trying to grow food for my family. We also use our growing space as part of our 6-year-old daughter’s homeschool STEM classes.’”
Foodtank 6.2018
“PRIME Act proponents say they suspect that the industry’s opposition is as much about protecting its market share as protecting consumers. “I don’t think it’s really about food safety,” says Elizabeth Rich, executive director of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. ‘I think it’s about the four companies that control over 80 percent of the beef market and the four companies that own 60 percent of the pork market.’”
McClatchy DC | 5.15.2018
The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund says the plan would help small-scale livestock producers who find themselves unable to secure ready access to a USDA slaughterhouse. “This has the potential to be a boon for an industry that is struggling,” said fund president Elizabeth Rich.
New York Times | 6.18.2014
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“Last month, Mr. Brown went to the state’s highest court, in Portland, for a hearing on his appeal. He was accompanied by a bevy of supporters who want farm-to-consumer sales to be free of state and federal regulation that, they say, is intended for supply chains that are much more complex than theirs.
Pete Kennedy, the director of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, said this was the first litigation involving [a food sovereignty ordinance], so advocates were watching closely.”