An Ordinance to Protect the Health and Integrity of the Local Food System on Stevens county, State of Washington

An Ordinance to Protect the Health and Integrity of the Local

Food System on Stevens county, State of Washington

(This is the actual document we are working from)

Section 1. Name. This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the “Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance.”

Section 2. Definitions. As used in this ordinance:

(a)  “Patron” means an individual who is the last person to purchase any product or preparation directly from a processor or producer and who does not resell the product or preparation.

(b) “Home consumption” means consumed within a private home.

(c)  “Local Foods” means any food or food product that is grown, produced, or processed by individuals who sell directly to their patrons through farm-based sales or buying clubs, at farmers markets, roadside stands, fundraisers or at community social events.

(d) “Processor” means any individual who processes or prepares products of the soil or animals for food or drink.

(e)  “Producer” means any farmer or gardener who grows any plant or animal for food or drink.

(f)   “Community social event” means an event where people gather as part of a community for the benefit of those gathering, or for the community, including but not limited to a church or religious social, school event, potluck, neighborhood gathering, library meeting, traveling food sale, fundraiser, craft fair, farmers market and other public events.

Section 3. Preamble and Purpose. We the People on Stevens county, State of Washington, have the right to produce, process, sell, purchase and consume local foods thus promoting self-reliance, the preservation of family farms, and local food traditions. We recognize that family farms, sustainable agricultural practices, and food processing by individuals, families and non-corporate entities offers stability to our rural way of life by enhancing the economic, environmental and social wealth of our community. As such, our right to a local food system requires us to assert our inherent right to self-government. We recognize the authority to protect that right as belonging to the people on Stevens county.

We have faith in our citizens’ ability to educate themselves and make informed decisions. We hold that federal and state regulations impede local food production and constitute a usurpation of our citizens’ right to foods of their choice. We support food that fundamentally respects human dignity and health, nourishes individuals and the community, and sustains producers, processors and the environment. We are therefore duty bound under the Constitution of the State of Washington to protect and promote unimpeded access to local foods.

The purpose of Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance is to:

(i)   Provide citizens with unimpeded access to local food;

(ii)  Enhance the local economy by promoting the production and purchase of local agricultural products;

(iii)  Protect access to farmers’ markets, roadside stands, farm based sales and direct producer to patron sales;

(iv)  Support the economic viability of local food producers and processors;

(v)   Preserve community social events where local foods are served or sold;

(vi)  Preserve local knowledge and traditional foodways;

(vii)  Create, protect and support a local seed bank

Section 4. Authority. This Ordinance is adopted and enacted pursuant to the inherent, inalienable, and fundamental right of the citizens of Stevens county to self-government, and under the authority recognized as belonging to the people of the county by all relevant state and federal laws including, but not limited to the following:

The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, which declares that governments are instituted to secure peoples’ rights, and that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.

Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution for the State of Washington, which declares: “All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.”

Article XI at Section 11 of the Constitution for the State of Washington, which grants counties, cities, towns or townships power to enforce and protect the health safety and welfare of the residents on Stevens county.

Self-sufficiency (as opposed to dependency) is a fundamental principle and basic individual right in order for a society to survive and thrive. This fundamental principle and right is fully protected within Constitution for the State of Washington and the Revised Codes of Washington.

Section 5. Statements of Law.

Section 5.1. Licensure/Inspection Exemption. Producers or processors of local foods in Stevens county are exempt from licensure and inspection provided that the transaction is only between the producer or processor and a patron when the food is sold for home consumption. This includes any producer or processor who sells his or her products at farmers’ markets or roadside stands; sells his or her products through farm-based sales directly to a patron; or delivers his or her products directly to patrons.

Section 5.2. Right to Access and Produce Food. Stevens county citizens possess the right to produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing.

Section 5.3. Right to Self-Governance. All citizens of Stevens county possess the right to a form of governance which recognizes that all power is inherent in the people, that all free governments are founded on the people’s authority and consent.

Section 5.4. Right to Enforce. Stevens county citizens possess the right to adopt measures which prevent the violation of the rights enumerated in this Ordinance.

Section 6. Statement of Law. Implementation. The following restrictions and provisions serve to implement the preceding statements of law.

Section 6.1. State and Federal Law. It shall be unlawful for any law or regulation adopted by the state or federal government to interfere with the rights recognized by this Ordinance. It shall be unlawful for any corporation to interfere with the rights recognized by this Ordinance. The term “corporation” shall mean any business entity organized under the laws of any state or country.

Section 6.2. Patron Liability Protection. Patrons purchasing food for home consumption may enter into private agreements with those producers or processors of local foods to waive any liability for the consumption of that food. Producers or processors of local foods shall be exempt from licensure and inspection requirements for that food as long as those agreements are in effect.

Section 7. Civil Enforcement.  Stevens county may enforce the provisions of this Ordinance through seeking equitable relief from a court of competent jurisdiction. Any individual citizen of Stevens county shall have standing to vindicate any rights secured by this ordinance which have been violated or which are threatened with violation, and may seek relief both in the form of injunctive and compensatory relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.

Section 8. County Action against Pre-emption. The foundation for making and adoption of this law is the peoples’ fundamental and inalienable right to govern themselves, and thereby secure their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Any attempt to use other units and levels of government to preempt, amend, alter or overturn this Ordinance or parts of this Ordinance shall require the County to hold public meetings that explore the adoption of other measures that expand local control and the ability of citizens to protect their fundamental and inalienable right to self-government. It is declared that those other measures may legitimately include the partial or complete separation of the County from the other units and levels of government that attempt to preempt, amend, alter, or overturn this Ordinance.

Section 9. Effect. This Ordinance shall be effective immediately upon its enactment.

Section 10. Severability Clause. To the extent any provision of this Ordinance is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision will be removed from the Ordinance, and the balance of the Ordinance shall remain valid.

Section 11. Repealer. All inconsistent provisions of prior Ordinances adopted by Stevens county are hereby repealed, but only to the extent necessary to remedy the inconsistency.