Food Sovereignty Ordinance: MMA Sample Now Available
Date Posted: Thursday, April 18, 2019
Posted In: Legal Notes
MMA now has a sample Food Sovereignty Ordinance that fully complies with all of the provisions of the Maine Food Sovereignty Act (7 M.R.S. §§ 281-286).
We’ve decided to make this sample ordinance available because we’re often asked for one and because a widely-promoted alternative contains, in our opinion, some serious legal flaws (see “Food Sovereignty Revisited,” Maine Town & City, Legal Notes, March 2018).
Most municipal attorneys agree, for example, that the statute as enacted applies only to face-to-face sales between producer and consumer at the farm or facility where the food or food product was produced, and that an ordinance cannot legally redefine these sales to include off-site farmers’ markets, fundraisers, and community social events as well. In our view, ordinances that purport to do so are not consistent with or supported by the law as actually written.
For municipalities interested in a food sovereignty ordinance, MMA has made a generic sample available that we believe fully complies with the law. It is located in the “Ordinances” section of our website (www.memun.org) along with a several other compliant samples adopted by municipalities in Maine. (By R.P.F.)
MMA now has a sample Food Sovereignty Ordinance that fully complies with all of the provisions of the Maine Food Sovereignty Act (7 M.R.S. §§ 281-286).
We’ve decided to make this sample ordinance available because we’re often asked for one and because a widely-promoted alternative contains, in our opinion, some serious legal flaws (see “Food Sovereignty Revisited,” Maine Town & City, Legal Notes, March 2018).
Most municipal attorneys agree, for example, that the statute as enacted applies only to face-to-face sales between producer and consumer at the farm or facility where the food or food product was produced, and that an ordinance cannot legally redefine these sales to include off-site farmers’ markets, fundraisers, and community social events as well. In our view, ordinances that purport to do so are not consistent with or supported by the law as actually written.
For municipalities interested in a food sovereignty ordinance, MMA has made a generic sample available that we believe fully complies with the law. It is located in the “Ordinances” section of our website (www.memun.org) along with a several other compliant samples adopted by municipalities in Maine. (By R.P.F.)
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| Month Published | April |
| Year Published | 2019 |