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.