SANFORD — A farmer who makes pickles, jam or cheese, or seafood-related products in their home kitchen could sell it to someone who comes knocking on their door under a new ordinance the Sanford City Council will consider tonight.
The council will hold a public hearing and first reading of a direct producer-to-consumer ordinance at their meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
Sanford city councilors will host a public hearing tonight on a food sovereignty ordinance that would allow residents to sell homemade pickles, jams and a host of other food items from their home directly to the consumer. The public hearing and first read of the proposed ordinance is among a host of items on the council’s agenda for tonight. TAMMY WELLS/Journal Tribune
Commonly called Food Sovereignty ordinances, the new municipal producer-to-consumer laws are catching on fast in Maine, after the Legislature passed a statute in 2017 that allows municipalities to adopt ordinances under home rule authority.
The proposed ordinance is among a lengthy list of issues to be discussed or decided at tonight’s council session.
Councilors will also hold public hearings and then render a decision on whether three buildings — at 65 Emery Street, 46 High Street and 14 Proulx Court — should be deemed dangerous and therefore subject to being immediately secured and a plan for the future established by the owner within 30 days. They’ll decide on license renewals for a number of medical marijuana caregivers, and they’ll also decide whether to support a state grant application for the Mid-Town Mall — the city owns the parking lot there.
The City Council will also decide whether to approve the plan for renovations to the kitchen of the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport terminal building in preparation for a new tenant. The plan includes use of the airport’s capital reserve account and the sale of the old maintenance shop for offsetting revenue. Airport Manager M. Allison Rogers estimates the cost of renovations at $38,000; $10,000 to be paid by the new tenant, Pilot’s Cove Cafe.
The food sovereignty ordinance was first proposed by Councilor Robert Stackpole in November.
“My motivation is entrepreneurship. Start a small business at home that could grow,” said Stackpole at the time. “
With face-to-face transactions, the home kitchen would not need to be licensed by the state — hence the term sovereign.
The proposal does not include the sale of any form of marijuana or marijuana products.
It does include “Any food or food product intended for human consumption, including, but not limited to, milk or milk products … fish or fish products, seafood or seafood products, cider, or juice, acidified foods or canned fruits or vegetables.”
The food products listed would be exempt from licensing and inspection under city and state laws. The exemption would not apply to meat and poultry products, which would continue to be required to be inspected prior to sale.
If approved, the producer-to-consumer ordinance would fall under rules and regulations for Sanford’s home occupations.
In all, more than 45 Maine communities have adopted producer-to-consumer ordinances. Locally, Lebanon voters adopted a food sovereignty ordinance by a 2 to 1 margin at their June Town Meeting.
A food sovereignty ordinance would not apply to farmer’s markets; transactions must be face-to-face, involving food or food products at the site of production.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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