Maine town becomes first in the nation to pass "Food Sovereignty" law.

It's always great to see a small town up and take matters into its own hands. Meddlesome regulators, creeping government nusances, the genetically modified food nightmare and all that entails...the tiny town of Sedgewick, Maine has stood up and said "enough." Will the law stick?

The article goes on to note that the same ordinance will come up for a vote in three other Maine towns. Now if only the other 49 states could follow the example of Maine, home of the first Americans to see the sunrise every morning..

On Saturday morning, Sedgwick became likely the first locale in the country to pass a "Food Sovereignty" law. It's the proposed ordinance I first described last fall, when I introduced the "Five Musketeers", a group of farmers and consumers intent on pushing back against overly aggressive state food regulators. The regulators were interfering with farmers who, for example, took chickens to a neighbor for slaughtering, or who sold raw milk directly to consumers.

The proposed ordinance was one of 78 being considered at the Sedgwick town meeting, that New England institution that has stood the test of time, allowing all of a town's citizens to vote yea or nay on proposals to spend their tax money and, in this case, enact potentially far-reaching laws with national implications. They've been holding these meetings in the Sedgwick town hall (pictured above) since 1794. At Friday's meeting, about 120 citizens raised their hands in unanimous approval of the ordinance.

Citing America's Declaration of Independence and the Maine Constitution, the ordinance proposed that "Sedgwick citizens possess the right to produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing." These would include raw milk and other dairy products and locally slaughtered meats, among other items.

This isn't just a declaration of preference. The proposed warrant added, "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." In other words, no state licensing requirements prohibiting certain farms from selling dairy products or producing their own chickens for sale to other citizens in the town

More at source
www.thecompletepatient.com...

(Note to mods -- I wasn't sure where to put this..,please move it if necessary. It pertains to food safety/GM food as well as US politics, so I was a bit torn. -ST)

Fantastic!
Now if those ‘5 Musketeers’ can spread out into a legion across the Nation and if other States would follow their lead?
GOODBYE Monsanto! GOODBYE Codex Alimentarius! S&F for you!

peace

good for them...they've got a heck of a fight on their hands. i wouldn't be surprised if there was an "accidental" food poisoning epidemic up there.

that is one of the most patriotic things I have heard of in a long time! It is about time them damn yanks started actin like americans again. S&F

reply to post by silent thunder


Glad to hear it. Regulators,Speculators, Assessors, and Fumigators,,,they all have their noses so far
up the rear of U.S. REAL PEOPLE, that their breath stinks.

They are not Human anyway, and we are just Consumers to them.

They rule through division,isolation,and Draconian fear, yet they are far outnumbered by U.S.

Remember that. S&F

It is high time New England reclaims the rightful place of protecting local citizens from pervasive federal actions. This part of the country used to be known for its opposition to government intrusion upon their liberties, something they have rather abandoned in the past 50 years, but maybe now that same spirit of independence is coming back.

Either way, GO MAINE!!

I just finished reading the book, "Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal" by Joel Salatin, and it dealt with this exact same issue. How "food safety" laws are often in place just for the bureaucracy of it rather than actually keeping people healthy. For example, Joel, the farmer/author, had the government vultures descend on him saying his outdoor chicken processing was unsanitary. When he brought out physical test results from a lab measuring the amount of bacteria on his chickens vs ones from an industrial plant, his were cleaner by a landslide. But that didn't mean anything to them- it was unsanitary.

Anyway, if I want to drink raw milk or eat outdoor-slaughtered chicken, I know the risks (and they're a lot smaller than the risks associated with anything coming out of the agroindustrial machine). It's not up to the government to tell me what I can and can't consume. If they were really concerned with my health they'd outlaw "corn sugar" instead of coming down hard on small scale farmers.

Good show... Nice to see them stand up to the corporations / corrupt government there...

reply to post by silent thunder


Damned good to hear! S &F. It makes my heart glad when people order the government around and not vice versa. Way to go Yankees!!!

reply to post by Misoir


I'll star that Misoir! It's about time we start showing the crooks and morons in DC that we OWN this country, and that they don't own us! Kick ass Maine.

holy crap there is still hope people..... still hope that someone might actually care about the people

reply to post by silent thunder


I love

Thanks Maine for leading the way. I gave this a star and flag and that's something I rarely do. The Amish guy I had slaughter my chickens, who's name happened to be Joel, did his work outside. Probably due to the smell.

Wonder what monsanto's reaction will be.. Lawsuits, saboteurs and goons to intimidate the farmers

they ought to rename this to

Showdown in Sedgewick !!!

S&F

it's about damn time !!!

Of course I foresee the same thing happening
that happened in California when they legalized
marijuana. The Feds came in and seized it anyway
and said piss on your local laws. Just wait, the
chit is about to get deep.

America, you are a victim of a runaway Federal Government.
And it's time to hit the brakes.

Best wishes to Sedgewick for making a stand

reply to post by silent thunder

S & F. Word of this needs to get out into mainstream media so that other communities will take charge as well. Our legislators are creating laws that enable corporations to control what we eat and to arrest people for selling illegal "drugs" aka vitamins, supplements, etc. They want to eliminate small farmers and people who sell health foods and supplements so that they can charge outrageous prices for simple things. Or, prevent the average person from eathing a healthy, organic diet.

I can see this situation, though, sprialing into a Waco-styled stand-off between armed FDA agents and people who just want quality, healthy food that has not been genetically engineered.

America doesn't need congress, all it needs it's this kind of towns with this kind of citizens.

If you don't show up to vote on the measures, it's your own fault.

And for big cities, guess what, since most of you don't care, the big cities will follow whatever the smaller towns around it votes on.

Originally posted by Vitchilo
America doesn't need congress, all it needs it's this kind of towns with this kind of citizens.

If you don't show up to vote on the measures, it's your own fault.

And for big cities, guess what, since most of you don't care, the big cities will follow whatever the smaller towns around it votes on.

Nice post until the part where people in big cities don't care.
That's just a ridiculous statement.

It's gotta start somewhere and the mega-corps trying to shove these anti-local measures can take it right up their collective arse.

I live in Maine and i gotta say its one that state sure doesn't receive enough attention. Everyone I know works their butts of in this state and we do a lot of good. We have a hard enough time making ends meet without uncle sam coming up here and putting our bawls in a salad shooter. Its not all trees, blueberries and lobsters like everyone believes. Hooray to my state for doing this. Geographically, Maine is where the Brain is.