By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent LANSING, Mich. — If Michigan beekeepers have their way, a so-called “farmers’ market” bill will include honey as a food that’s legal to package and sell out of a person’s home.
Rep. Terry Brown, a Democrat from Pigeon, Mich., has introduced House Bill 4568. This legislation would exempt certain food operations from licensing and inspection provisions of the Michigan Food Law of 2000.
The bill focuses on cottage food operations, which are people who produce or package “non-potentially hazardous” foods out of their own homes. Right now, the proposed legislation includes baked goods, jams, snack food, cereal, granola, dry mixes and other items, but honey isn’t included in the list.
Exempted foods produced this way could be legally sold at farmers’ markets, county fairs and similar venues, but they could not be sold at for-profit venues such as flea markets, according to language in the bill.
Unless honey is included in the “non-potentially hazardous” food list, any honey that’s produced by a beekeeper in Michigan would have to be processed at a honey house that’s been inspected and approved by the Michigan Dept. of Agriculture (MDA).
“What we’re trying to do is promote beekeeping,” said David Anthony, president of the Michigan Beekeepers Assoc. “If this would pass, it would be a great benefit to everybody.”
Anthony said honey is “non-contaminable and non-spoilable. Bacteria and molds don‘t grow in honey.”
According to a statement issued by the Southeastern Michigan Beekeepers Assoc., “We need to increase the number of beekeepers, and the present honey house regulations discourage beekeepers from starting. It requires thousands of dollars to construct a honey house that will meet the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Food and Dairy Division requirements.”
Brown has been contacted by the beekeeping industry about the honey issue, said Larry Waterworth, an aide to Brown. Waterworth said Brown sought input from the MDA a “month or two” ago about whether honey should be considered a non-potentially hazardous food, but MDA hasn’t yet responded.
Waterworth noted that Ohio has a similar program for cottage food operations, but he doesn’t know if honey is included under its provisions. According to Waterworth, the proposed legislation is in the House agriculture committee, and it’s unclear when or if it will be acted upon. He said he would contact the MDA again to see if he can get its input on the issue.
The current version of the proposed legislation can be viewed in its entirety by searching for it at www.michiganlegislature.org and for more information about beekeeping in Michigan, go to the Michigan Beekeepers Assoc. site at www.michiganbees.org or the Southeastern Michigan Beekeepers Assoc. site at www.sembabees.org
This farm news was published in the Aug. 22, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
