Maine’s landmark food sovereignty law was on the books for less than a month before the federal government informed state officials in July the legislation was in need of tweaking.
Now advocates of food sovereignty in the state are preparing to defend the legislation during the upcoming October special legislative session.
The special legislative session will take up LD 1648, An Act to Amend the Law Recognizing Local Control Regarding Food Systems and Require Compliance with Federal and State Food Safety Regulations, sponsored by Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, with a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the Cross Office Building and in session at 10 a.m. Monday at the State House.
Jackson sponsored the original legislation that became the current food sovereignty law.
“Through cooperation and open dialog with the governor and the [Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry], we’ve arrived at what I believe is a fair solution,” Jackson said Wednesday afternoon. “I’m optimistic that during the upcoming special session, we’ll enact a fix to the food sovereignty law that will eliminate the risk of unnecessary federal intervention in our local food system while respecting and upholding the rights of small-scale farmers to provide food to their neighbors and their community — just as they’ve done for centuries.”
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Maine lawmakers rush to fix new food sovereignty law before feds step in,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Julia Bayly, please follow this link to the BDN online.
