2007: Signed three bills encouraging local food production
In 2005, a small group of folks creating a coalition began a fledgling effort to bring together people interested in food production, sale, and sustainability called Grow Montana. Here are some examples of its highly successful 2007 legislative session:
Montana Food to Institutions: An optional exemption from the state procurement act to allow public institutions to buy Montana-grown food. (The pre-2007 law required the institutions to buy the cheapest food available.)
Value-Added Food
Production Study: To research ways that Montana can increase its value-added food production (of meat, for example) so that Montanans can buy and eat local foods. This would keep profits in Montana.
Resolution to Remove Ban on Interstate Commerce of
State-Inspected Meat. This resolution asked Congress to remove the USDA's ban on interstate commerce of meat inspected in Montana.
Each of the 3 bills passed almost unanimously and was signed by Governor Brian Schweitzer (a farmer himself!).
Limit cattle grazing near Yellowstone as disease safeguard
The buffalo and elk in Yellowstone often carry brucellosis. Having park buffalo mingle with domestic cattle could potentially threaten the cattle with infection.
Part of Schweitzer's solution included pulling back some of the cattle that craze on the boundary of the park, creating a buffer zone.
Source: Blue Man in a Red State, by Greg Lemon, p.129
, Jun 25, 2008
