04/17/2017 01:00 PM House RESOURCES

          HB 217-RAW MILK SALES; FOOD EXEMPT FROM REGS                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:38:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR announced  that the next order of  business would be                                                              
HOUSE BILL  NO. 217, "An  Act relating  to the Alaska  Food, Drug,                                                              
and Cosmetic  Act; relating  to the sale  of milk, milk  products,                                                              
raw milk,  and raw milk products;  and providing for  an effective                                                              
date."                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
1:38:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR,  prime  sponsor  of HB  217,  said  the  materials                                                              
provided in the  committee packet are to show her  intent with the                                                              
bill.  She recounted  that she first learned about  what is called                                                              
the  Food Freedom  Movement  when she  met  a representative  from                                                              
Wyoming.  In  2015 Wyoming became  the first state to  pass a food                                                              
freedom bill,  which has  now caught  on and  a number  of western                                                              
states have  legislation.  She explained  that the purpose  of the                                                              
legislation is to  allow for the sale and consumption  of homemade                                                              
foods, and  to encourage  the expansion  of agricultural  sales by                                                              
farmers markets, ranches, farms and homebased producers.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  related that the  Wyoming legislation  removed some                                                              
of  the regulatory  restrictions  on the  aforementioned types  of                                                              
sales.  If  this is done in  Alaska, she said, care  must be taken                                                              
that people's health  is not put at risk.  To  that end, Wyoming's                                                              
legislation includes  the words "informed" and "consumer".   These                                                              
products must  be properly  labeled so that  an individual  can be                                                              
an informed  consumer and  know what  product is being  purchased.                                                              
An  informed  consumer  who  knows  the  product  being  purchased                                                              
should  have  the right  to  choose  to  buy  that product.    She                                                              
pointed  out  that   foodborne  illness  has  not   eliminated  by                                                              
purchasing through grocery stores.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  explained that a  challenge in starting  a business                                                              
is  economies  of  scale  - it  is  difficult  to  produce  enough                                                              
initially to  be able  to get into  a grocery  store.   This means                                                              
instead  selling  through  subscribership  or farmers  markets  to                                                              
build  up  a  customer base  that  allows  expansion  into  retail                                                              
opportunities.   Restrictions  on sales  include [the  requirement                                                              
of  using]  a  certified  kitchen, she  said.    Entrepreneurs  in                                                              
Alaska are  renting kitchen  space from  restaurant owners  during                                                              
the  time when  the restaurant  is  closed, but  this is  limiting                                                              
because  there are  not  enough [restaurant  kitchens]  available.                                                              
Conversation  is   currently  ongoing  between  the   Division  of                                                              
Agriculture, Department  of Natural  Resources, and  the Anchorage                                                              
School  District about  using the  district's certified  [kitchen]                                                              
facility.    She said  HB  217 seeks  to  open  up some  of  those                                                              
opportunities.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:44:36 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR noted  that HB 217 also includes  provisions for raw                                                              
milk  that  were  previously  in  proposed HB  46,  a  bill  about                                                              
product procurement  preference statute  and marketing  for Alaska                                                              
Grown.   She explained that  it was decided  to split out  the raw                                                              
milk from  HB 46 and  put it into  HB 217  because HB 217  is more                                                              
about regulation.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  reviewed the  provisions in HB  217.  She  said the                                                              
first section of  HB 217 includes statutory references  to some of                                                              
the  new things  that are  being  added, including  the raw  milk.                                                              
Section  2 is  about  raw milk  sales,  which,  she allowed,  some                                                              
people   find   controversial.     However,   she   pointed   out,                                                              
individuals  are  currently  able  to buy  raw  milk  through  cow                                                              
shares, which  is a  bit difficult to  manage and doesn't  provide                                                              
as much opportunity  for small-scale retail sales.   She said that                                                              
opening  up  raw  milk  sales  would   allow  direct  producer-to-                                                              
consumer sales with  [required product] labeling.   Someone having                                                              
concerns about  raw milk can  take it home  and boil it,  which is                                                              
essentially  pasteurization.    Also  accomplished  would  be  the                                                              
support of  an Alaskan  business and  Alaskan family with  dollars                                                              
that  will  stay   in  the  Alaskan  economy.     Section  3,  she                                                              
continued,  is  about the  exemptions.    It provides  that  these                                                              
products can  be sold but  must be sold  to the end  consumer, the                                                              
products  are only  for home  consumption and  not for  commercial                                                              
sales  in any  way, sales  occur only  within the  state, and  the                                                              
sale of  meat products  is not  involved except  for the  specific                                                              
exemptions  listed.    Section  3  includes  the  wording  of  the                                                              
information  that must  be provided  to the consumer  and  how the                                                              
wording must be displayed for the consumer to see and read.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR  stated  that since  passage  of  its  legislation,                                                              
Wyoming has been  a huge increase in local food  production sales,                                                              
access  to local  foods, and  economic development.   Interest  in                                                              
local food  production is growing  in Alaska, she  said.  It  is a                                                              
great business opportunity  and helps food security  and increases                                                              
in the aforementioned  would be great for Alaska.   She again drew                                                              
attention to  the various materials  and articles included  in the                                                              
committee  packet.   She  noted that  Colorado  entitled its  bill                                                              
"The  Cottage  Food  Act."   Other  states  are  doing  this,  she                                                              
continued,  and foodborne  illnesses have  not increased  in those                                                              
states.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  noted she is not  trying to move HB 217  today, but                                                              
rather  she is  providing  preliminary  information  on the  bill.                                                              
Over the  coming summer,  she said, she  will be engaging  farmers                                                              
and others in the bill so that further work can be done on it.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:50:48 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  DRUMMOND said  she  shops at  the Spenard  Farmers                                                              
Market  near her home  in Anchorage,  at which  an organic  farmer                                                              
from Sutton  sells  her produce  every weekend.   She offered  her                                                              
understanding  that  this farmer  is  already allowed  to  produce                                                              
food at  her farm  and sell it  without a  license.  However,  she                                                              
continued,  this  farmer  is  finding  that  the  Municipality  of                                                              
Anchorage's  health department  is limiting  what can  be sold  in                                                              
the farmers  markets.   A way  must be  figured out  to set  these                                                              
farmers  free,  she  said,  because many  come  from  outside  the                                                              
municipality and  are suddenly restricted  from food  freedom when                                                              
they  hit the  municipality's  border.    She asked  whether  that                                                              
would be  allowed within this bill  so that municipalities  can be                                                              
helped  in  being  less  bureaucratic,  especially  in  regard  to                                                              
farmers markets, which have been so successful.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR  responded  that   state  statute  would  supersede                                                              
municipal  code on  that issue.   The  Alaska Administrative  Code                                                              
includes  some existing  exemptions,  she  said, but  specifically                                                              
putting it in  statute allows for being very  prescriptive in what                                                              
kind of  exemptions are wanted.   That is  one of the  reasons for                                                              
not trying  to push this  quickly, she pointed  out.  Once  a bill                                                              
is  introduced,  those  people   who  are  interested  will  start                                                              
responding  and time will  be spent  with each regulatory  agency.                                                              
People are  worried about public  health, a concern that  she also                                                              
shares.  However,  she continued, a balance can  be struck between                                                              
informed consumer choice and managing for consumer health.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:53:11 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  TALERICO  expressed  his  support  for  the  bill,                                                              
thanked  the sponsor  for her  comments on  startup businesses  as                                                              
the state  tries to  develop its  agriculture,  and agreed  that a                                                              
starting  point is needed.   He  shared that  during his  youth he                                                              
enjoyed raw  milk and recalled that  it develops many  layers once                                                              
bottled and  that these  layers have  many benefits  to them.   He                                                              
further recalled the  adjustment he had to make when  he went from                                                              
raw  milk  to store-bought  milk.    He  said  the bill  would  be                                                              
beneficial to  all the state's growers  and those people  who want                                                              
to start doing this.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  replied she received  many comments about  raw milk                                                              
when [HB  46] was introduced,  most of  them in support.   Several                                                              
of those emails,  she related, included similar  stories about the                                                              
benefits of raw milk.   The point of HB 217 is  to allow consumers                                                              
the choice of  such things as a  raw milk option.  She  noted that                                                              
Fred Meyer's grocery  store carries raw milk cheese  as one option                                                              
for consumers  to select  from, and  she would  like to  see these                                                              
opportunities made available to Alaska farmers.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
1:55:50 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
HB 217 was held over.