I became involved with Rural VT 9 years ago (2006) when I and a neighbor first raised 3 pigs with the expectations of selling our excess to our neighbors and friends. I had checked with a VT Dept of Ag official and was given the go ahead. But when another inspector seized the meat in a NECI walk in cooler it took me a week to get it back, with the limitation that I could not sell it to anyone. I found that Rural VT was working with the State Legislature about how the VT inspectors were “interpreting” the USDA rules against small farms. The VT Department of Agriculture has determined that we do not have a constitutional right to eat what we want to eat. What we have is a limited exemption for a very few special cases, an exemption that is getting tighter and tighter with the influence of food corporation lobbyists whose main interest is increasing their market share by excluding small farmers.

Nine years ago I became a recognized face at the State House, with Legislators coming up to me in the halls to tell me they thought what I was doing was legal; telling me they have been doing it all their lives, and that we should be able to farm slaughter and share our meat with friends and neighbors.

Rural Vermont’s Annual Meeting this year will feature Farmers Tell Their Stories about how small farms are being pushed out by large food companies here in Vermont. You can no longer legally buy the food you want to eat from your neighbor. Each year the VT Dept of Agriculture makes it harder and harder for small farmers and neighbors to share what they raise (milk, meat, and now vegetables) with their neighbors. But junk food sales keep growing with government subsides. Why? Food has become BIG BUSINESS. BIG BUSINESS doesn’t like competition to get in the way of their profits. Come and hear the other side of the story.

Wednesday, April 8th, come listen to FARMERS TELL THEIR STORIES at the Rural Vermont 30th Anniversary Celebration, Capital City Grange. 5:30 Potluck, 6:30 Annual Meeting, 7:30 storytelling ($5 admission)

Feb 22, 2025, 12:30 PM

Feb 23, 2025, 9 to 10 AM

Feb 24, 2025, 6 to 6:30 PM