Maine Public interviews Rebar about food sovereignty bill
John Rebar, executive director of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke with Maine Public for the report, “Fresh Maine law lets municipalities regulate local food production.” Proponents of the food sovereignty law argue that many food-borne illnesses in America are caused by factory farming and food centralization, according to Maine Public. “Years ago there was probably much more food-borne illness than there is now, because we didn’t have the regulatory and the science-based knowledge that we have now,” Rebar said. “But because food was so decentralized, the incidence of it wasn’t as widespread as it possibly could be with a large processor or producer who might produce a tainted product.” Illness tended to run its course locally, the report states, whereas today, a Listeria outbreak in California can affect the whole country. Maine’s food sovereignty law tries to address this by limiting transactions to local, face-to-face sales. Anyone wanting to ship or distribute products outside the immediate community still needs to comply with state or federal regulations, according to the report. Rebar said it’s unrealistic to think these products won’t be shared beyond the borders of the town where they were produced. And without mandatory state inspections, he said it will be down to each farmer to self-police.