By Frank Carini, ecoRI.org
The Department of
Health (DOH) is the latest state agency/institution to punch a hole in Rhode Island ’s
paper-thin Buy Local campaign.
DOH officials recently
issued a blanket restriction of meat and poultry sales to Farm Fresh Rhode
Island’s Market Mobile. This decision basically means the DOH is prohibiting
any meat that goes back to a local farm after appropriate processing at
USDA-certified facilities from entering the wholesale chain without a wholesale
license.
It’s a rigid enforcement of the law, and one that needs to be amended to better support
The Buy Local RI mission is to “build a strong economy
and vibrant community by promoting locally owned independent businesses,
strengthening our state’s merchant and commercial associations, and providing a
unified public resource where businesses and individuals can find and connect
to local products and services.”
While many Rhode
Islanders, small-business owners and local farmers work to make this vision an
important reality, elected officials and state agencies frequently ignore their
campaign promises, the press releases they write, the websites they have built
and the proclamations they make.
For example, in 2004,
the General Assembly dubbed Yacht Club Soda as “Rhode Island ’s Official Soda.” In fiscal
2011, legislators spent $24,000 of taxpayer money to buy soft drinks from
corporate giant Coca-Cola. They didn’t spend a cent of taxpayer money on soda
from the local bottler in North Providence .
Yet, Buy Local RI’s Facebook page features a photo of Yacht Club
Soda bottles.
The Department of
Health’s recent decision seems like nothing more than bureaucratic nitpicking,
and trying to get an explanation from DOH officials for what seems like
regulations in need of tweaking is like asking Vinnie Barbarino why he didn’t
do his homework.
Corners shouldn’t be
cut when it comes to protecting the public’s health and the food we eat, and
nobody involved in this situation should endorse lax regulations. We also
shouldn’t wait for an illness outbreak or a public health scare before deciding
to better regulate local meat and poultry.
But it’s also
discouraging to see a growing business concept built around locally sourced
foods hindered because of fear, lack of DOH staffing and resources, or, worse,
to pacify the greedy feedlot industry that has nothing invested locally and
brings with it a massive carbon footprint. It's frustrating to watch everyone
else involved in this important issue working to make it happen while state
officials stand their ground on the sideline with their fingers in their ears.
Local chefs and farmers
care more about our well-being and local economy than the industry that injects
cattle, hogs, chickens and turkeys with growth hormones and antibiotics, fills
burger meat with ammonia-bathed “pink slime” and treats animals disturbingly
cruelly.
Local restaurants and
livestock raisers know their survival depends on the quality of their products.
These local entrepreneurs realize that all it takes is one food-borne illness
resulting from the consumption of locally raised meat to thwart Rhode Island 's growing
local food movement.
Instead of stalling
this movement’s momentum, the state should be doing a much better job of
actually embracing it.
Frank Carini is the
executive director of ecoRI News.