***ACTION ALERT***Virginia

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***ACTION ALERT***

TIME SENSITIVE

Show Your Support for SB272-Home Kitchens bill

Please attend hearing:

Monday, January 28th at 9:30 am in the General Assembly

Building, Senate Room B.

Call Senate Ag Committee members TODAY!

BACKGROUND: In 1993 Virginia passed a law to regulate

convenience stores that made sandwiches. The law was misconstrued and

applied--several years after passage--to home kitchens, thus eliminating our

food heritage of home-produced foods in church bake sales, farmers markets

and more. This bill rectifies that mistake and restores common sense by

making an exception from the law for inspections of home kitchens selling to

the final consumer foods like breads, jams, jellies, pickles, etc...

Senator Creigh Deeds' bill to allow private homes to sell

food products to an individual for his own consumption provided they are

marked " not for resale-processed and prepared without state inspection " will

be heard this Monday, January 28th at 9:30 am in the General Assembly

Building, Richmond, Senate Room B.

This bill does not include the sale of meat, sausage or milk

and cheese products. Please plan to attend this committee hearing. Although

only a few will probably speak, we need a show of warm bodies to show

support for the bill. Please also phone the committee members and request

that they support the bill.

ACTIONS:

1. Please attend the hearing for SB272. Numbers are important and your

Senators pay attention when people take the initiative to attend.

2. Call all Senate Ag Committee members today and ask them to SUPPORT

SB272. Please THANK Sen. Creigh Deeds for sponsoring this bill.

Agriculture Committee members, Talking Points and link to

bill below.

SENATE AG COMMITTEE

Member Name District Party Capital

Office Phone

Blevins, Harry B. 14 R

Deeds, R. Creigh 25 D

Hanger, Emmett W., Jr. 24 R

McDougle, T 4 R

McEachin, A. 9 D

Northam, Ralph S 6 D

Obenshain, Mark D 26 R

sen, Chap 34 D

Puckett, P 38 D

Reynolds, Wm. Roscoe 20 D

Ruff, M., Jr 15 R

Stuart, H. 28 R

Ticer, S 39 D

Watkins, 10 R

Whipple, Margaret 31 D

TALKING POINTS:

1. Local/home-based food production and consumption supports earned income

in neighborhoods and communities.

2. The demand for local artisanal cottage-based food is growing

exponentially. People want alternatives to mass produced food.

3. This growing desire for local food is stifled by laws requring inspected

home kitchens. People want to eat locally grown and produced food. They are

being denied access because of the misapplication of this law. Church sales

and farmers markets have been severely hurt.

4. Seasonal food production overages, including home garden surpluses, can

be used to bring in extra money by allowing neighbors to provide for

neighbors.

5. Labeling the product " Not for resale-processed and prepared without

state inspection " informs the consumer that is not inspected and not to be

resold.

6. Rural Virginians on low or fixed incomes historically counted on these

type items to bring in a little extra money. This bill is simply the

reasonable, right thing to do.

Link to SB272:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=081 & typ=bil & val=sb272 & Submit

2=Go

For more information on this bill, please visit our website at

www.VICFA.net <http://www.vicfa.net/>

or contact Solem at or at