Local legislators could decide the future of local food in Virginia any day.  That's because they're preparing to discuss the Virginia Food Freedom Act, a new bill that would make it legal for Virginians like me to sell food grown on our family farm or prepared at home at local farmers markets, or even straight from our front door.

Right now, the laws in Virginia restrict what small farmers and home cooks can sell and even puts limits on how much we can sell. So I have to turn down my neighbors when they ask if they can buy Pesto I make from my own basil plants or my famous Pecan Crumb Topped Sweet Potato Pie.

Turning them down breaks my heart. If my husband and I were allowed to sell the food we grow on our farm to them, it would mean he could stay home and work on the farm year round rather than traveling for half the year to pay our bills. I also want my neighbors to have easy access to organic, local food they can trust.

I'm a family farmer and mother of five, and I helped write the bill that's sitting on Virginia legislators desks right now. I pushed to call it the Virginia Food Freedom Act because that's exactly what it will bring to countless families like mine: healthy local food, and financial freedom.

But it won't pass without your help. Please sign my petition now telling Virginia legislators to pass the Virginia Food Freedom Act,  HB 1290 and share it far and wide!