Recent rule changes by the Maine Department of Agriculture - including poultry processing and raw milk sales - are making criminals out of hard-working Mainers who are growing and processing food to share in their communities. Now the Department of Agriculture and State of Maine are suing Dan Brown, a man milking one cow and selling jams, pickles, and other prepared foods from his farmhouse kitchen. If successfully pursued, this lawsuit will have a chilling effect on Maine's growing local food movement and the promise of real economic development in our rural communities.

I strongly urge you to side with small farmers, their willing patrons, and the Maine Constitution. Drop the lawsuit against Dan Brown and respect the authority of the Local Food & Community Self-Governance Ordinance.