Dear Friend,
Greetings from Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF)! At FTCLDF, we cannot believe that it is already August.
As always, we have been keeping busy addressing a variety of member issues such as allegations of violations such as trespass and nuisance, food sales without a license, adapting to improved raw milk laws, working with members on custom slaughter issues, and more!
We are waiting for a decision from the Court in our lawsuit against the Maine Department of Health and Human Services involving violations of the Maine Food Sovereignty Act and the Maine Constitutional Right to Food. We also continue to research and consider appropriate actions in Oregon where the state Department of Agriculture has decided that all small raw dairies, other small operations, and possibly even homesteads with backyard chickens, will now need CAFO permits to operate.
Upcoming Events:
In addition to serving our members’ legal needs, we will be appearing at upcoming events and are working on additional recourses for our members.
Heirloom Expo - Board member Peter Ruddock and Legal Services and Policy Manager Christine Dzujna will speak on a panel concerning food sovereignty issues at the Heirloom Expo in Ventura, California on September 12-14, 2023. If you plan to attend this event, be sure to stop by the panel and the FTCLDF Booth!
Homesteaders of America - FTCLDF plans to exhibit at the conference on October 13-14, 2023, in Front Royal, Virginia. Please stop by to see us. Note: this event sells out, so get your tickets early if you plan to go.
Wise Traditions - Breakfasts at the Wise Traditions Conference on October 20-22, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri raise funds for FTCLDF. If you are planning to attend the conference, please join us at breakfast!
Resources:
FTCLDF is working on additional educational resources for our members only portion of the website.
Please let us know of any specific topics you would like to see! Come fall, we will return to our popular members only webinars, and will get information out soon about the schedule.
Member News:
FTCLDF will also soon be publishing an article on our website concerning member Esther Arkfeld, who was instrumental in passing the long-awaited Iowa raw milk bill this past spring.
As a reminder, the first Monday of the month is Member Monday, when we feature one of our members on our website and social media. In July we featured successful produce and pastured poultry farm OwlTree Farm in Colorado, which uses no-till bio-intensive gardening to protect and build soil and teaches others how to do so. FTCLDF would love the opportunity to feature you (whether farmer, homesteader, artisanal member or consumer member). If interested in participating, please email Amelia@farmtoconsumer.org
Other news:
We continue to follow proposed policy updates, including potential changes to the Farm Bill and will be reaching out for member and reader support on important matters, particularly on proposals to improve the meat processing system in the U.S.
We know that this is a really busy time for our members. We hope you are enjoying summer and benefitting from the increased consumer interest in local health food systems.
As always, thank you to our members and our supporters who make this work possible.
In good health,
Alexia Kulwiec
Executive Director
