Why should farmers be
subjected to “annual property monitoring visits and inspections” by
environmental groups, environmental councils, and local supervisors beholden to
international agencies, groups that have no idea how their food gets to the
table nor do they care?
Virginians have fought
back the NGO environmentalist assaults on their land, private property rights,
and the right to farm by introducing HB 1430, The Right to Farm Act, better
known as the Boneta Bill, which passed the House of Delegates 77-22 in February
2013 but was blocked by the Senate Agricultural Committee by a vote of 11-4.
The sponsor of the bill, Delegate Scott Lingamfelter, promised to reintroduce
the bill in 2014.
Chairman Mike Thomas and
his committee of 12 proposed a resolution on May 4, 2013, the Virginia Small
Farm and Food Freedom Resolution in support of HB 1839, the Virginia Food
Freedom Act. (www.vafarmandfoodfreedom.com)
The Resolution called on
the Republican Party of Virginia “to support state legislation and local
ordinances consistent with each farmer’s right to determine what best
constitutes farming, farm life, the best uses of his/her own farm land, respect
for their neighbors,” market pay for their labor, and to repeal state laws and
ordinances inconsistent with the Resolution.
Martha Boneta found
herself at the center of the battle for farm freedom and property rights when
she held a birthday party for eight 10-year old girls at her Paris Barns.
Fauquier County deemed this party illegal because it lacked permit. “Why would
I need a permit for pumpkin carving?” Boneta said.
Boneta was issued a
special license in 2011 which allowed her to run a “retail farm shop” in which
she sold handspun yarns, fresh vegetables, eggs, herbs, honey, and craft items
such as birdhouses.
Fauquier County Board of
Supervisors changed in 2011 the “farm sales classification” to require a
special permit for activities that were previously included in the permit that
Boneta had already been issued.
Faced with fines of $5,000
per violation under charges that she held a birthday party for eight 10-year
old girls without a permit and a “site plan,” advertised one wine tasting, sold
postcards with pictures of her rescued farm animals, sold wool fiber products
from her sheep and alpacas, and sold organic tea from herbs grown in her
garden, even though she had a business license, Martha paid $500 to appeal
these unjust administrative charges. “The county zoning administrator told her
at the hearing that ‘Martha was out of line,’ for appealing these charges.”
When farm property owners
can no longer hold a child’s birthday party without a permit, we are no longer
free. In a letter dated January 8, 2012, Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter said, “What’s
next? A citation from the food police for serving cake and ice cream to the
children? A user fee for every helium balloon inflated? It’s not outside the
realm of possibility. Not anymore.”
Farmers engage primarily in
agriculture; additionally, they have the right to commerce, the right of
enjoyment of their land, assembly on their own property, the right to exercise
religious freedom on their lands, the right to grow, eat, sell their locally
produced foods without burdensome local and state government regulations or
dictates from environmental groups sponsored by international groups and
entities with taxpayer dollars.
Government should not use
laws, regulations, zoning ordinances, or cumbersome and expensive permits to
violate or trespass on farmers’ rights and freedom to farm under the guise that
they know what is best for farming in general or one farmer in particular.
Such government agencies
that violate farmers’ rights and trespass on their property should be made
accountable for their deeds. Americans should not be treated as guilty until
proven innocent while giving environmental groups unlimited power without much
redress for small farmers who do not have the means to fight back and must shut
down their farming operations and farm stores as was the case of Martha Boneta
in Virginia and many others across the country.
The new Governor of
Virginia and the General Assembly have a duty to advance legislation in 2014 that
respects the rights of citizens to pursue their self-interests as protected by
the Constitution of the United States and of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
It appears that a
compromise was reached and, on January 8, 2014, Delegate Bobby Orrock
introduced HB 268. This bill is the labor of a state-appointed task force which
assembled farmers from both sides of the aisle, reviewed public testimony, and
reached a compromise. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?141+sum+HB268
HB 268 summarizes
agricultural operations and local regulation of certain activities, “protecting
customary agritourism activities from local bans in the absence of substantial
impacts on the public welfare and requires certain localities to take certain
factors into account when regulating agritourism activities.” There has to be a
basis in health, safety, or public welfare for a local ordinance to restrict
activities such as agritourism, sale of agricultural or silvicultural products,
related items, preparation or sale of foods that already comply with state
laws, and other customary activities. Local boards are “prohibited from
subjecting these activities to a special-use permit requirement.”
Senator Richard Stuart
filed a companion bill, SB51. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?141+sum+SB51
The Virginia Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services task force members included:
-
Joel Salatin of
Polyface Farm
-
Lois Smith of
Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association Katie Frazer of Virginia
Agribusiness
-
Trey Davis of
Virginia Farm Bureau
-
Martha Boneta of
Liberty Farm
Virginia Farm Bureau and
Virginia Agribusiness Council support the new bill that will strengthen the
rights of small family-owned farms, allowing them “to sell their products from
nearby farms and host events without additional local permits.”
Martha Boneta, a member of
the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, http://farmtoconsumer.org/ explains, “This
is a win-win for farmers, consumers, and the state. Farmers get the income they
need, while consumers have a one-stop shop option and the state gains
additional sales revenue. We are all so happy we’ve found a winning compromise.”
Bills can be tracked at:
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