The author of Wyoming\u2019s Food Freedom Act says recent decisions by the state Dept. of Ag. to shut down sales of locally produced food are government overreach. \u201cThey\u2019ve managed to find their way around our laws and intent,” Tyler Lindholm said.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
By Kate Meadows<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two recent controversial decisions by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture to ban two small Wyoming businesses from selling specific products show some cracks in the Wyoming Food Freedom Act that its author says need to be filled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law signed in 2015 allows producers to sell almost any type of homemade or farm-raised food directly to consumers without state licensure, permitting, certification or inspection requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tyler Lindholm, a former Wyoming legislator who authored the Food Freedom Act, said he intends to revise the law to make it very clear what items are being sold by individual farmers and ranchers and how they\u2019re being sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Local producers and farmstands across Wyoming have faced growing pressure from state regulators, causing the Wyoming\u2019s Food Freedom Act to bump up against state and federal regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In March, the Wyoming Department of Agriculture banned WY Fresh Farm on the outskirts of Cheyenne from selling some types of meat, saying the farm was selling the meat without a license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Derek Grant, a WDA spokesman, said the farm could either stop selling meat or apply for a food license. <\/p>\n\n\n\n David Kniseley, who with his wife Tommie owns WY Fresh Farm, told Cowboy State Daily the farm had come to an agreement with the agency in 2022 that they didn\u2019t need a separate license under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wy Fresh Farm incident exposes ambiguity in the Food Freedom Act\u2019s language around what constitutes a \u201cdesignated agent,\u201d Lindholm said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s because the law does not clearly specify that a \u201cdesignated agent\u201d also applies to those selling meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Department of Agriculture\u2019s interpretation, “you still can\u2019t have a designated agent for meat products,\u201d Lindholm said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because WY Fresh Farm was acting only as a seller and not a producer of some meats, the WDA claimed it was selling meat illegally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In April, the WDA required Hippie Cow Creamery in Cody to stop selling raw milk lattes, saying the creamery would have to pasteurize the milk and have it inspected to sell lattes at a store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than making lattes fresh, the creamery now pre-makes lattes and refrigerates them in individual bottles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People can buy them and pour them over ice themselves, said Hippie Cow Creamery\u2019s Sadie Howard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lindholm said this incident shows that language in the Food Freedom Act must be clarified and painstakingly spelled out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As is, the law addresses the sale of drinkable products that come from animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to clarify that you can add those products to other types of drinks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both state actions against local Wyoming food producers are contrary to what the Food Freedom Act is supposed to allow. What they do is show where the law needs to be made better, Lindholm said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lindholm said it\u2019s important that regulators respect both the letter and the spirit of the law he wrote as a Wyoming legislator 11 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s fix the law,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there is ambiguity there, let\u2019s fix it. There is no such thing as a perfect document.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said Wyoming has boasted the best local food laws since 2015, adding that it\u2019s become a model of legislation in other states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the local food law, he said, there\u2019s always something that crops up, \u201csome new way that some enforcement agency can find their way around our words and our laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHere we are again,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve managed to find their way around our laws and intent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knisely said WY Fresh Farm has worked hard with respect to trying to follow the law consistent with its freedom and navigate the issues between the Legislature and Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Wyoming Ag Department is afraid that if they allow us to sell meat freely, that the USDA will come in and take over the licensing and inspecting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wyoming Department of Agriculture did not respond to Cowboy State Daily\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Came First, The Chicken Or The Grain?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Knisely pointed to a 1942 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that the USDA had jurisdiction over a farmer who was growing grain and feeding it to his own chickens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The farmer, who was penalized under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 for exceeding his wheat production quota, argued that the excess wheat was for his own farm and never entered interstate commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The court ruled that, while the excess wheat of one farmer might be trivial, the cumulative effect of thousands of farmers doing the same would impact market prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knisley said he believes the case is an opening for federal government overreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t a small farmstand in east Cheyenne provide an opportunity for small growers to sell vegetables?\u201d he said. \u201cWhy should it require so much hassle? Why should you have to ask permission to sell land to your neighbors?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Hippie Cow, Howard told Cowboy State Daily the shutdown at her Cody coffee shop has hurt multiple families that are all about buying local and selling local.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo much red tape hurts local people and businesses,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said she has been shocked by the high amount of support Hippie Cow Creamery has received in light of the recent restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt hit a nerve in Wyoming,\u201d she told Cowboy State Daily. \u201cIt\u2019s a nerve that needs to be hit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A rally at the state Capitol in Cheyenne on Saturday aimed to draw attention to the issues and push for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to be creative and find that razor edge to walk on,\u201d said Lindholm, who now serves as Wyoming\u2019s director of Americans for Prosperity, a grassroots political advocacy group that supports free-market economic policies. \u201cBuying local is as great a thing as you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kniseley said he has been trying to stay on track with the Food Freedom Act. He and his wife spoke at Saturday\u2019s rally, as did Howard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is bigger than lattes and coffee,\u201d Howard said. \u201cThis is about choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wyoming Americans for Prosperity website calls for action to help small producers, who are what the act was written for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAcross Wyoming, local producers and farmstands have faced growing pressure from state regulators, raising serious concerns about whether unelected bureaucrats are respecting both the letter and the spirit of Wyoming\u2019s Food Freedom Act,\u201d the group says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lindholm said he expects to see producers, some elected officials and people running for office on the Capitol steps Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most important, he said, is that consumers will be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy hope is we find some grassroots activism that will be carried through the Legislature,\u201d Lindholm said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think you\u2019re going to see a lot of farmers there meeting with a lot of people who want access to local food,\u201d Kniseley said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to say we can do something really great here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howard brought some of Hippie Cow Creamery\u2019s pre-made lattes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is an interesting thing because as I\u2019m looking at Food Freedom, it crosses the political divides in Wyoming,\u201d said Kniseley. \u201cPeople across the board are saying, \u2018Why shouldn\u2019t I be able to make food choices?’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kniselely said he filed an appeal with the state Board of Administrative Appeals about the Wyoming Department of Agriculture not allowing WY Fresh Farm to sell meat produced by the farm\u2019s vendors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He said he just received notice that there was certified mail waiting for him at the post office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re deep in the weeds with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the farm is still not allowed to sell certain meats as an agent for its vendors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the interim, he said some of his vendors have made themselves physically present at the farm to be able to sell their meat themselves. That\u2019s like requiring someone selling an item at a consignment shop be physically present to allow it to be bought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom Reed, who owns Sagebrush Beef in Douglas, drives the couple hours to Cheyenne to sit with his beef and sell it, Kniseley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s the laughability of it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf he\u2019s not here, then we can\u2019t sell his beef. But if he\u2019s here, we can sell it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s been an upswell of public support for Wy Fresh Farms, which also has been fighting a city of Cheyenne effort to annex the land into the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s led to people starting rumors and speculating that the complaint that put the Department of Agriculture on Wy Fresh and its meat vendors came from a member of the Cheyenne City Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cowboy State Daily contacted the council members, who all have denied being the source of the complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member Dr. Kathy Emmons said in an email that \u201cthe complaint that was made about Wy Fresh not complying with State Department of Agriculture licensing rules was not made by a City Council person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member Tom Segrave was equally direct. \u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d he said. \u201cI did not report anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member Larry Wolfe also denied involvement, saying, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t me,\u201d and added that \u201ceveryone I talked to on the council said they did not make that call.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member Pete Laybourn likewise said he had no role in filing a complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure what\u2019s going on out there, but that would be an issue for the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have nothing to do with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council members Mark Rinne, Jeff White, Michelle Aldrich, Mark Moody and Ken Esquibel also denied any involvement in reporting Wy Fresh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On the positive, we have a lawmaker that is willing to fix this government overreach by improving the law, and perhaps it will stop nefarious interests lurking in the background from wielding the bureaucracy against its citizens in such a duplicitous way. And the timing was such, the enforcement against the WY Fresh farmstand is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-wyoming"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17263,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17262\/revisions\/17263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/Food-Freedom-700997896_993743110265328_1681341506271753941_n.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress\")
That Meat<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/Wy-Fresh-wide-inset-3.31.26.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress\")
Cold Shoulder<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Tyler](\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/lindholm-2-4-10-26.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress\")
Seeing The Cracks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/Food-Freedom-700692297_993742976932008_6029779102310468644_n.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress\")
Rally<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
WY Fresh Farm Still Not Able To Sell Some Meats<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Not Us<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n