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The big culprit in Md is the health department. It runs all over the Ag industry in this state. Anything that MAY cause an illness is banned. PA takes the approach that as long as it may effect a very small percentage of the population it is ok. In Md if it may make one person sick it is banned, a zero tolerance policy that is absurd. This is so ingrained in the bureaucracy that no matter who is at the top it does not change. In fact it gets worse as they feel more confident in their power. They even require food permits up here for businesses to give out a free cookie at their store during an open house etc!
Pa farmers have a real advantage that goes straight to their bottom line, making their farmer healthier and financially more stable. Less regulation and more freedom to create new markets that can expand their diversity and bottom line. It will be a long fight to change this, many farmers have been working on it for years with only small progress. I know our local ECDC is working for farmers on it too but that is only in this county and it needs to be a state wide effort.
my 2 cents...
jim@... wrote:
Thanks, Kari! Right now the net revenue flow seems to be from MD consumers to PA farmers. I travel through PA a lot, and small farms seem to be flourishing there in comparison to MD, and supermarkets carry a lot more local food products. I suspect it goes way beyond raw milk, though I don't know much about the ag policy differences between the two states. If we don't want our state to become a vast suburban wasteland, we ought to be investigating this on a broad scale. JimWESTON A. PRICE FOUNDATION ACTION ALERT May 8, 2006HELP DEFEAT REGULATIONS TO PROHIBIT COW-SHARES IN MARYLAND All Members May Submit Their Testimonials[...] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> You can search right from your browser? It's easy and it's free. See how. http://us.click.yahoo.com/_7bhrC/NGxNAA/yQLSAA/WpSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> If you have any trouble with the unsubscribe function, you can also email the list moderator kate@... and we'll remove you from the list. you can also email the list moderator kate@... and we'll remove you from the list. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WAPAnnapolis/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: WAPAnnapolis-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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