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Support Food Freedom in Tennessee Tell Your Legislators to Support SB 2104 |
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Dear Friend,
UPDATE: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee hearing of SB 2104 was delayed last week; the committee will likely consider SB 2104 tomorrow, Wednesday, February 28 at 12:30 p.m. Please take the suggested actions below and help to move this bill forward!
Tennessee Senate Bill 2104 (SB 2104) would expand the kinds of foods that a person could make in his/her home kitchen and sell directly to consumers without regulation.
SB 2104 would allow most food and beverages to be sold without any licensing or inspection. The bill includes poultry, rabbit, raw dairy products, and foods like pumpkin pie that require refrigeration, as well as non-alcoholic beverages. The producer—the person who grows, harvests, prepares, or processes any homemade food or drink product on such person's own property—would be required to display signage informing potential customers that their products were not regulated by the state of Tennessee.
SB 2104 specifies that it does not prohibit local governments from regulating, within their territorial jurisdiction, the sale of these foods. SB 2104 does not cover meat products other than poultry or rabbit, nor does it include alcoholic beverages.
Pass this alert on and ask others to do the same.
- FTCLDF Team
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TAKE ACTION #1:
Call or email your State Senator and urge him or her to support SB 2104. You can look up who represents you here
Calls are more effective than emails, and they take just a couple of minutes! Be sure to mention that you are a constituent.
SAMPLE MESSAGE:
“Hi, my name is ___ and I am a constituent. I am calling to ask Senator ____ to support SB 2104." [Explain why this is important to you in 2-3 sentences. You can use any of the talking points below to help you get started. Remember to make it personal, about why this matters to you.]
If your Senator is on the Senate Health and Welfare Committee (see list below), be sure to ask him or her to vote YES on SB 2104 in Committee. If your Senator is not on the Committee, ask that he or she talk with his/her colleagues on the Committee to support the bill.
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TAKE ACTION #2:
Come to the hearing on Wednesday, February 28 at 12:30 p.m. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee will meet in:
Senate Hearing Room 1 Cordell Hull Building 425 Fifth Ave. North
Register to support the bill. If you want to testify, please plan to keep it short (less than 3 minutes) and simple. |
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TAKE ACTION #3:
Call or email your State Representative, and urge him or her to support SB 2104 and its companion bill, HB 2229. You can look up who represents you here (scroll down to "House Districts" map). |
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TALKING POINTS:- SB 2104 would offer consumers the opportunity to buy more of the foods they want from local producers, including family favorites like pumpkin pie. Demand for locally produced food continues to grow because consumers want to buy from people they know and trust.
- SB 2104 would support small local businesses and boost the local economy. SB 2104 would help keep small farms and local food artisan producers in business and growing.
- Locally produced food has an excellent track record for safety. In the 9 years that the Tennessee cottage foods law has been in effect, there has not been a single foodborne illness outbreak attributed to the consumption of a cottage food in the state. If there ever is a problem, locally produced food has a high degree of traceability.
- The state and local health departments would continue to have the authority to inspect if there were a suspicion of foodborne illness.
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SENATE HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Chairman Rusty Crowe Vice Chair Ferrell Haile
Vice Chair Joey Hensley
Senator Richard Briggs
Senator Ed Jackson
Senator Sara Kyle
Senator Becky Massey
Senator Art Swann
Senator Bo Watson
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MORE INFORMATION:
Track its status.
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Who We Are/What We Do
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF), a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and artisan food producers while protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods.
Learn more About Us. |
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www.farmtoconsumer.org | 703-208-FARM (3276) | info@farmtoconsumer.org |
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