Welch Introduces LOCAL Foods Act to Better Support Rural Producers and Communities
Sep 24, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in introducing the Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local (LOCAL) Foods Act, legislation to update the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906’s (FMIA) ‘Personal-Use Exemption’to better support small-scale meat producers in rural communities. The LOCAL Foods Act would codify current USDA guidance on Personal-Use and Custom Exemptions, allowing consumers to buy live animals from producers and designate agents to handle the slaughter and processing of their meat.
The Federal Meat Inspection Act requires all meat in the United States to be inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). However, the small number of USDA-inspected slaughterhouses creates bottlenecks for producers, especially small-scale producers that have to compete for slaughterhouse time with much larger operations. To address this, the LOCAL Foods Act will amend Personal-Use and Custom Exemptions to allow producers to sell a live animal to a consumer. The consumer will then have the freedom to either hire someone or slaughter and process the meat themselves, helping farmers to avoid bottlenecks to continue providing their communities with locally sourced food.
“For generations, Vermonters have depended on their neighbors for locally-grown produce and farm-fresh meat. However, regulations tailored toward large-scale farms have made it harder for smaller farms to sell in their own communities. Keeping our small-scale producers competitive means cutting through red tape to help them compete with companies that have massive operations,” said Senator Welch. “This bill will update federal guidelines to better support Vermont-sized producers, keep our food local, and strengthen our food systems.”
In 2013, Vermont adopted an on-farm slaughter law similar to the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s guidelines to allow owners to slaughter their livestock on the farm where it was raised while upholding food safety standards. This law helps reduce costs and emissions from animal transport, alleviate pressure on backlogged slaughterhouses, increase farm viability, and improve animal welfare and food security. However, USDA retains the authority to eliminate Vermont’s on-farm slaughter inspection program if the state fails to meet federal standards.
In 2018, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service issued updated guidelines to create an avenue for producers to sell their produce locally and without an inspection. This guidance gives livestock owners the option to slaughter livestock themselves, or have an agent slaughter their livestock on the farm where it was raised. This change also allows producers to sell a live animal to a consumer, have it slaughtered on the farm, and then processed at a custom processing facility. Custom processing facilities are inspected periodically, in contrast to round-the-clock inspectors that are present at USDA-certified facilities.
The LOCAL Foods Act is endorsed by the Farm Action Fund, Farmers and Ranchers Freedom Alliance, Farm-to-Consumer Defense Fund, Kentucky Black Farmers Association, National Family Farm Coalition, and Rural Vermont.
“Updating the personal-use exemption to be based on ownership aligns with current USDA standards and is needed to protect the rights of livestock owners, producers, and itinerant slaughterers to practice on-farm slaughter in accordance with their state regulations,” said Caroline Sherman-Gordon, small farmer and Rural Vermont’s Legislative Director. “Protecting farmers from subjective interpretations of the personal-use exception will protect farmers from unfair sanctions and give the security they need to grow their business.”
“The LOCAL Foods Act will reduce both financial and regulatory burdens on small farmers and thereby improve consumers’ access to local foods,” said Judith McGeary, regenerative farmer, lawyer, and Executive Director of the Farmers and Ranchers Freedom Alliance. “So many consumers want to buy from local farmers instead of massive corporations, but the farmers are blocked by regulations written by and for Agribusiness.”
“Modernizing the personal-use exception reflects the realities of diverse communities demanding access to local food that honor their traditions,” said Kenya Abraham, member of the Kentucky Black Farmers Association. “We are observing a growing demand to access local producers like me, but we need legislation that gives us an incentive to continue our operations.”
“The LOCAL Foods Act protects the rights of farmers and consumers to engage in direct commerce by increasing small livestock farmers’ ability to expand their business, and by allowing consumers to buy meat from local farms instead of industrial meat providers, should they so choose. Essentially, it protects the rights of farmers to sell the products of the farm and the rights of consumers to access the foods of their choice from the source of their choice, achieving the kind of food freedom so many demand for themselves, their families, and their communities,” said Christine Dzujna, Farm-to-Consumer Defense Fund’s Policy Manager.
“Securing the independence of farmers and consumers is key to building a healthy food system in the Country,” said Antonio Tovar, Senior Policy Associate at the National Family Farm Coalition. “The fact that consumers are effectively forced to access their food from corporations has made us vulnerable to a weak and unreliable market. The LOCAL Foods Act offers a real opportunity to start building food sovereignty.”
Learn more about the LOCAL Foods Act.
Read the full text of the bill.