Wednesday, May 8, 2013

It doesn't work that way

Two years ago I wrote about attempted "food sovereignty" municipal ordinances in Maine. While I support their goal of deregulating food, even if it's only small-scale production, I said the approach was doomed for failure.

Well, the update is obvious. The courts reminded them that state and federal legislation trumps municipal ordinances.

A [Maine] Superior Court ruling against a Blue Hill farmer who has been selling unlabeled, unlicensed raw milk will have farmers in several Maine towns wondering about the future of local “food sovereignty” ordinances that seek to exempt them from state oversight.

Sorry kids, but a strong top-down federal government prevents natural experiments in local government. It's a shame, although an obvious one, as there was never a reason to believe this plan would work in the long term.

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