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Today Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead signed into law the "Wyoming Food Freedom Act," a measure designed to "stop overregulation of locally produced foods," as its sponsor, state Rep. Tyler Lindholm (R-District 1), put it. Under the new law, direct-to-consumer food sales by farmers and other food producers cannot be subjected to any "licensure, permitting, certification, inspection, packaging, or labeling" requirements by state agencies.
"The purpose of the Wyoming Food Freedom Act is to allow for the sale and consumption of homemade foods, and to encourage the expansion of agricultural sales by farmers markets, ranches, farms and home based producers," the legislation states. It applies to food sales that take place directly between produer and consumer, where products are bought for home consumption, and does not apply to meat except for poulty.
The new law takes "local foods off the black market," said Lindholm. "It will no longer be illegal to buy a lemon meringue pie from your neighbor or a jar of milk from your local farm."
The Wyoming Food Freedom Act is one of three similar measures I noted in January. Since then, Virginia's version has been tabled. Connecticut's cottage food legislation received a public hearing February 17, and another food freedom-related bill, this one to remove restrictions on home-based bakeries, was up for public comment there today.
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