WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the bipartisan 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.
“Small, Vermont-sized farms have produced locally-grown produce and farm-fresh meat for their neighbors and community for years, but regulations designed for large-scale farms have made that increasingly difficult. We need to cut through red tape and help our rural producers compete in the marketplace. This bipartisan bill will help support our local producers and help local customers access fresh, locally-sourced products,” said Sen. Peter Welch.
“If you’re purchasing livestock for personal consumption, you shouldn’t have to jump through the same regulatory hoops present in the commercial meat market,” said Senator Lee. “This bipartisan, commonsense legislation gives freedom to farmers and ranchers of every size to feed themselves and their communities without going through unnecessary steps to please the government.”
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.
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, Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, HOPE for Small Farm Sustainability, Kentucky Black Farmers Association, National Family Farm Coalition, and Rural Vermont.
“This legislation will reduce financial and regulatory burdens on small farmers, thereby improving consumers’ access to local foods,” commented Judith McGeary, regenerative farmer, lawyer, and Executive Director of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance. “Many consumers want to buy from local farmers instead of massive corporations, but farmers are blocked by burdensome regulations written by and for agribusiness.”
“The LOCAL Foods Act protects the rights of farmers to sell directly from their 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 desire for themselves, their families, and their communities,” said Christine Dzujna, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund’s Policy Manager.
“On-farm slaughter aligns with the growing demand for locally-sourced food that respects community traditions,” said Diana Padilla, owner operator of Yahweh’s All Natural Farm and Garden and Executive Director of HOPE for Small Farm Sustainability, “Through my work with farmers in my community, and as a beef farmer myself, I’m seeing increased demand from people who want to buy their meat directly from a farmer they personally know. The LOCAL Foods Act is a straightforward solution that will put more money in farmers’ pockets while fostering meaningful connections between producers and their customers.”
“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.”
“Securing the independence of farmers and consumers is key to building a healthy food system,” commented Antonio Tovar, Senior Policy Associate at the National Family Farm Coalition. “When consumers are effectively forced to access their food from corporations, it makes us vulnerable to a weak and unreliable market. The LOCAL Foods Act offers a real opportunity to start building a food system allowing freedom of choice.”
“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 compliance with their state regulations,” said Caroline Sherman-Gordon, a small farmer and Rural Vermont’s Legislative Director. “The LOCAL Foods Act protects farmers from arbitrary change to regulations, offering them the stability they need to plan and grow their businesses.”
Learn more about the LOCAL Foods Act.
Read and download the full text of the bill.
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