Oregon Senate Approves Farm Direct legislation
Kyle Curtis
Today, the Oregon State Senate passed HB 2336- the Farm Direct bill- by an overwhelming 27-3 margin. The bill allows the opportunity for small farmers who primarily use the land for the purpose of growing crops to sell home-grown produce and certain processed products, such as salsa or fruit jam, directly to customers. This bill basically codifies what farmers and vendors at farmers markets are currently doing, but provides a uniform standard that applies to all small farmers throughout the state.
The bill's passage represents a culmination of many years' efforts contributed by small farmers and their advocates who found willing partners to help guide the bill's passage through the political process. As Rebecca Landis, director of the Corvallis-Albany Farmers Markets and one of the bill's primary champions, said in an email announcing the bill's passage: "We can do this when we have to!"
The next stop for the bill is the desk of the Governor, awaiting John Kitzhaber's signature.
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9:07 a.m.
May 25, '11
Kyle
Interesting bill, I noticed the first subsection defines "acidity." Home canners know this is because acidic goods can't grow botulism bacteria.
Anyway, an unrelated question, is there a way for you to link the bill page including the search query? I can't figure it out. This does give a direct link to the bill text--http://www.leg.state.or.us/11reg/measures/hb2300.dir/hb2336.a--but may not be a permanent link.
11:10 p.m.
May 25, '11
Not a fan of most things on OregonLive, but their bill pages are top notch.
Here's HB 2336
10:47 a.m.
May 25, '11
Paul,
I fixed the link. Thanks for pointing that out. I used the legislature's "new" measure search tool, and the link must've just gone to their home admin page.
As for the acidity language, that was included to address concerns of certain foods that had Ph levels that could go into a danger zone, such as tomatoes. This language, as well as the labeling language, would mitigate any safety concerns about having one bad actor tarnishing those who follow the guidelines. Instead, any bad products could be easily traced back to their producer.