Self-Sufficient as a community - is this possible?
I think in New Zealand this is contradictory. Why? Because it is illegal. Seriously! Think about it, New Zealand is a country where people can still do a lot of things like brewing beer, butchering animals and making cheese for themselves. Still! This is not the rule in other countries. Example Germany (that's where I come from). Homebrewing? Yes but only after an application to the customs dept before every brew! And you will have to pay taxes if you exceed a certain amount of alcohol produced.
But this is not the point of this entry here.
My point is that the legal definition for all the things you can do at home limits the consumption to your direct family. This includes any family members living in your household and/or parents and siblings not living in your household. And here it stops. Seriously, offering a mate a homebrew with the steak - illegal. Bring a plate and add some homemade Feta cheese - illegal. Give the neighbor some sausages from your homekill - illegal. Sharing a cow with neighbors - illegal, except if you have an expensive Risk Management Program.
Looking at the US with the recent legalization of the Food Modernization Act aka S510: Giving your neighbor a cucumber from your garden - illegal! And I still believe the S510 was the reason for our government to come up with the new Food Bill 2010. So watch this space.
Now I know of a lot of people who have the dream of self-sufficiency. And many of them want to achieve this in a community. But is it possible? Sharing vegetable and fruit from your garden is still allowed. Hurray for that! As long as they are unprocessed. Sharing jam stretches the rules already. It would have to be produced in a licensed kitchen (Note: This is going to change in the new Food Bill 2010 and not to make it any easier!) Same as any baking or salads or anything which is processed. Sharing dairy and meat products - no way. I know of a community who have meals together. I would guess it is illegal what they do because they do not have a register food production premise.
I know what some people are going to say "Ahh well, but we still share our milk and homekill". But that's not the point. My point is that our government basically makes it impossible to create self-sufficient communities. Is our government even interested in self-sufficient communities? Of course they will tell you that this isn't true. Of course you can be self-sufficient as a community. As long as you get an approved RMP, have it audited every year, invest in milk pasteurizer, in stainless steel benches, in separate handwash basins. Since you are more than 2 people working in your community kitchen, community dairy or community butchery you need separate staff toilets and shower rooms and dressing rooms. But yes, it is not forbidden to be self-sufficient as a community.
When the Food Bill 2010 was in its submission phase, Biddy Fraser-Davis, a small cheese maker you might have heard of (Stiff cheese for Biddy), entered a submission (SUBMISSION on the FOOD BILL Number 160−1 and Submision from Cwmglyn Farmhouse Cheese−Supporting Material which asked the government to apply separate rules based on size of the business. As far as I heard, her submission was removed as "out of scope" from the hearing. (See Analysis of submissions page 129) or waved away with the argument that the new Food Bill 2010 would already make provisions for small operators.
I don't see anything in the Food Bill 2010 which makes allowances based on the size of an operation. It is all based on risk. I assume you will have to use i.e. a commercial and approved pasteurizer no matter if you provide milk for a community of 2 or 3 families or if you sell to hundreds of customers. Raw Milk for your community - fat chance! So why aren't we allowed to eat what we want? Why isn't a community allowed to live a life they chose for themselves. Who are these representatives of the people who tell us how we have to live? Who elected them? Who will vote for them them on the 26th of November this year?
On the same note and to show I am not alone:
Urgent call to Action: Food Bill 160-2 (2010) Government Bill
But this is not the point of this entry here.
My point is that the legal definition for all the things you can do at home limits the consumption to your direct family. This includes any family members living in your household and/or parents and siblings not living in your household. And here it stops. Seriously, offering a mate a homebrew with the steak - illegal. Bring a plate and add some homemade Feta cheese - illegal. Give the neighbor some sausages from your homekill - illegal. Sharing a cow with neighbors - illegal, except if you have an expensive Risk Management Program.
Looking at the US with the recent legalization of the Food Modernization Act aka S510: Giving your neighbor a cucumber from your garden - illegal! And I still believe the S510 was the reason for our government to come up with the new Food Bill 2010. So watch this space.
Now I know of a lot of people who have the dream of self-sufficiency. And many of them want to achieve this in a community. But is it possible? Sharing vegetable and fruit from your garden is still allowed. Hurray for that! As long as they are unprocessed. Sharing jam stretches the rules already. It would have to be produced in a licensed kitchen (Note: This is going to change in the new Food Bill 2010 and not to make it any easier!) Same as any baking or salads or anything which is processed. Sharing dairy and meat products - no way. I know of a community who have meals together. I would guess it is illegal what they do because they do not have a register food production premise.
I know what some people are going to say "Ahh well, but we still share our milk and homekill". But that's not the point. My point is that our government basically makes it impossible to create self-sufficient communities. Is our government even interested in self-sufficient communities? Of course they will tell you that this isn't true. Of course you can be self-sufficient as a community. As long as you get an approved RMP, have it audited every year, invest in milk pasteurizer, in stainless steel benches, in separate handwash basins. Since you are more than 2 people working in your community kitchen, community dairy or community butchery you need separate staff toilets and shower rooms and dressing rooms. But yes, it is not forbidden to be self-sufficient as a community.
When the Food Bill 2010 was in its submission phase, Biddy Fraser-Davis, a small cheese maker you might have heard of (Stiff cheese for Biddy), entered a submission (SUBMISSION on the FOOD BILL Number 160−1 and Submision from Cwmglyn Farmhouse Cheese−Supporting Material which asked the government to apply separate rules based on size of the business. As far as I heard, her submission was removed as "out of scope" from the hearing. (See Analysis of submissions page 129) or waved away with the argument that the new Food Bill 2010 would already make provisions for small operators.
I don't see anything in the Food Bill 2010 which makes allowances based on the size of an operation. It is all based on risk. I assume you will have to use i.e. a commercial and approved pasteurizer no matter if you provide milk for a community of 2 or 3 families or if you sell to hundreds of customers. Raw Milk for your community - fat chance! So why aren't we allowed to eat what we want? Why isn't a community allowed to live a life they chose for themselves. Who are these representatives of the people who tell us how we have to live? Who elected them? Who will vote for them them on the 26th of November this year?
On the same note and to show I am not alone:
Urgent call to Action: Food Bill 160-2 (2010) Government Bill
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