Public Hearing at State House on Food and Farming

On Tuesday night February 17, 2009 the Well of the House of Representatives in Montpelier was filled with farmers, activists, families, people of all stripes, to comment on the future of Vermont food and farming. Over 130 people took this 2-minute opportunity to share their thoughts and visions on Vermont's food system with the House and Senate Agriculture Comittee Representatives and with the crowd of concerned citizens that billowed out of the state chamber. The evening was filled with enthusiasm and passion as the citizens of Vermont voiced their own stories and concerns regarding our local food system. Some of the most widespread contentions dealt with the legal sale of raw milk and on-farm slaughtering of animals. (Current regulations are such that small scale producers have to invest thousands of dollars to meet USDA demands when it comes to processing meat.) The importance of ensuring that Vermont can feed itself in the face of economic turmoil and the end of cheap energy, was echoed throughout the high cielings of the State House. The need for small-scale processing facilities, more young farmers, the preservation of agricultural land, the accessability of land, and the development of regional food hubs throughout the state are but a few issues brought up. The following is my 2 minute ramble that I scribbled down while listening to what others had to say:

2 minute Testament at State House, February 17 2009
by Jon Piana

Most of what I am going to say tonight has already been said – but I’m going to say it anyway. I recognize that some of what I’ll say is idealistic, but so were our founding fathers. I come to you tonight from the village of Barnard, representing both the young and the old. For I am a young vegetable farmer, and I lease land from an elder who has spent the last 45 years of his life growing grass-fed beef, rotating his cows as a steward on his farm. It is his wish to die on this farm, yet now he questions whether this wish will become a reality, due to the incredibly high and inflated land tax that has engulfed him. We have to distinguish working farms that feed our people and enhance our landscape from second-home McMansions. It is not uncommon for these so-called “farms” to qualify for land-use tax breaks because someone who does not even live there hays the fields once in the summer, while simultaneously spiking property tax, and forcing the small farmer, the producer of our food, to sink.

The average farm in this sate is 56 years old. Clearly, we need more young farmers to sustain us now and into the future. This means that some how we must make farming more profitable, and land more affordable and accessible. Young folks should be encouraged to take up the trade and art of farming, not discouraged. During this period of economic meltdown and job loss, there is lots of work to be done on farms. It is critical that we, as a state, begin taking charge in the local production of food, energy, and other raw materials that are used day to day.

May prime agriculture land be preserved and designated for the creation of new farms.

May we develop small-scale regional creameries, slaughterhouses, and other food/fiber processing plants throughout Vermont.

May food eaten by our Representatives in this State House and other state institutions (hospitals, prisons, schools etc.) be sourced from Vermont Farms.

May the State House green be transformed into community gardens and accommodate a permanent farmers market as a model to the public. (Why spend so much money chemically maintaining a lawn when there are people in the Montpelier area waiting in line for entry into community garden plots?)

May we bring back the spirit of Victory Gardens during the WWII era and initiate a statewide effort to turn home and business lawns into food producing gardens.

May we legalize industrial hemp: an invaluable renewable resource, as it can be used as food, fuel, fiber and medicine. What Thomas Jefferson deemed the backbone of our nation – hemp – is now classified as a narcotic, and outlawed by our politicians.

May we bring back the train systems that once connected our rural towns, farms and urban dwellings before the onslaught of the automobile.

Thank You.