Does your constitution support local food?

It's cold. It's Easter Monday, a real holiday in some places. Here in the North Country Easter Monday isn't considered a holiday and, besides, we're still under #Stay-At-Home orders and the ground is covered in snow.  So, since I've been learning more (and more and ...) about local food systems, I've been poking around the question of whether farmers markets and community supported agriculture are governed by the same rules. It turns out that's a much more interesting question than I anticipated.

For openers, I hadn't expected to find myself dealing directly with Minnesota's constitution, but there it is in A Guide to Regulations for Local Food Entrepreneurs:

“Products of the Farm” in MN Constitution
The Minnesota Constitution grants farmers the right to sell their own “products of the farm” without a license. This covers farm products with no off-farm ingredients and “limited processing.” The exemption from licensing is stipulated in MN Statutes 28A.15, Subd. 2.

The language in the Constitution is found in:

[ARTICLE XIII MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS
Sec. 7. No license required to peddle. Any person may sell or peddle the products of the farm or garden occupied and cultivated by him without obtaining a license therefor.]

 Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) & Good Handling Practices (GHP), "voluntary audits that verify that fruits and vegetables are produced, packed, handled, and stored as safely as possible to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards."

some farms feed both body and soul

Photo by J. Harrington

Farms and farmers, and consumers, that are committed to food safety should be familiar with the provisions in the audits so the added safety also adds value.

I discovered several of these resources at the web site for the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture [MISA] at the University of Minnesota. The list of related programs on that page is almost like a sustainable farming and food treasure map.

at least the red wheel barrow wasn't full of snow

Photo by J. Harrington

As you may know, I'm a recovering planner. Before I became recovering, I learned that "more of the same rarely solves a problem." As part of the worlds solution to repairing the climate we've broken, transformation of what we eat and how we grow what we eat is essential. So now I'm discovering that, not too many years ago, the American Planning Association discovered "food systems and how to plan them and for them."

Minnesota has lots of new and interesting activities underway in agriculture and food systems, both urban and rural. I've read enough Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder to want to learn more about what's actually going on. You can expect to be able to share what I learn in occasional postings here, especially when, not if, Spring returns.

Some Glad Morning

by Joyce Sutphen

One day, something very old
happened again. The green
came back to the branches,
settling like leafy birds
on the highest twigs;
the ground broke open
as dark as coffee beans.

The clouds took up their
positions in the deep stadium
of the sky, gloving the
bright orb of the sun
before they pitched it
over the horizon.

It was as good as ever:
the air was filled
with the scent of lilac
s and cherry blossoms
sounded their long
whistle down the track
It was some glad morning.

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