Augusta, ME – Effective today, Maine LD 124 significantly strengthens the Maine Food Sovereignty Act. Prompted in part by a lawsuit filed by Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund and its member, the amendments to Act now explicitly authorize meals prepared in home kitchens to be sold directly to consumers. 

When the Maine Department of Health and Human Services shuttered Kenduskeag Kitchen, a home-based business selling locally-sourced prepared meals, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund sued the state. Although a local ordinance under the sovereignty law permitted the business to operate without a license, the state demanded a cost-prohibitive commercial kitchen and shut them down. 

In response, Maine Senator Craig Hickman introduced amendments to strengthen Maine’s Food Sovereignty Act due to the DHHS’s resistance to interpret the original language correctly. Importantly for Kenduskeag Kitchen and businesses like it, LD 124 explicitly authorizes meals prepared in a home kitchen and sold directly to consumers. 

“The passage of LD124, as a direct result of the legislation between myself and DHHS, is a win not only for my family but for all Mainers,” said Kenduskeag Kitchen owner Rhiannon Deschaine. 

“Maine's food sovereignty law now offers true assurance that local authority will be recognized, said FTCLDF Executive Director Alexia Kulwiec. “Communities can protect their citizens’ rights to buy and sell food anywhere on its journey from farm to table.” 

“The state of Maine has a real food sovereignty champion in Senator Hickman,” Kulwiec concluded. 

The amendments introduced by Maine Senator Hickman in early 2025: 

• Introduce stronger language to protect the right to food sovereignty, now defined as “the right of persons to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods and the right of persons to define their own food and agriculture systems.”  

• Clarify that Maine communities may adopt ordinances that honor “traditional foodways.”   

• Explicitly include meals prepared in a home kitchen in its definition of direct producer-to-consumer transactions. 

FTCLDF appreciates of the efforts of Kenduskeag Kitchen, Maine food sovereignty leader Heather Retberg, Food for Maine’s Future, Senator Craig Hickman, and all FTCLDF supporters who pitched in to help fund the litigation necessary to spur important policy change.  

For a full timeline of this case and the more about food sovereignty in Maine, please see the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund’s recent article.