Supporting Local and Sustainable Small Farmers

From Sarah Alexander, Senior Food Organizer at Food & Water Watch:

Have you ever bought local meat at a farmer's market? I buy pastured poultry raised in Virginia at my local farmer's market in Washington DC, because I like to support local farmers.

Unfortunately, not all small farmers can sell their meat at local markets if they're in neighboring states. In order to promote local food, small farmers need to be able to sell meat across state lines.

Our current food system is built for the largest producers, and it's often hard for small farmers to get their foot in the door. This is the case with meat and poultry. Many small sustainable farmers have a hard time finding processing plants for their meat. Then there's the added burden of finding a plant that is certified to ship across state lines.

Food & Water Watch worked hard during the 2008 Farm Bill to deal with this issue in a way that opened up markets for small producers but didn't weaken the USDA's meat inspection program by letting giant corporate meatpackers rewrite the rules. Building off of the success of the local foods movement, we are very close to getting the USDA to change the rules so small producers have a chance. We need your help to make sure USDA follows through.

Tell Secretary Vilsack you support the proposed rule to allow farmers who use small state-inspected meat plants to sell their products across state lines.

Thanks for taking action!