Subcommittee kills bill to expand uninspected home‑food sales after safety concerns
Summary
A House subcommittee voted 4‑2 to pass HB 699 by indefinitely after testimony from farmers in support and multiple agricultural and market groups warning the measure would risk food safety and the state meat‑inspection program.
A House subcommittee on behavioral health voted to pass HB 699 by indefinitely after heated testimony over whether small farmers should be allowed to sell uninspected homemade foods directly from homes and farms.
Sponsor remarks framed the bill as expanding "food freedom" for low‑risk, direct‑to‑consumer sales and said products would have to be labeled with the seller's name, address, phone number, preparation date and a disclaimer that the item was not state‑inspected. "This bill seeks to make that right available to all Virginians by expanding exemptions from state inspections for small scale homemade food production and sales in private homes and farms," the sponsor told the committee.
Opponents included Trey Davis of the Virginia Agribusiness Council, who said the measure threatened public health and could jeopardize Virginia's meat inspection agreement with the federal government if uninspected meat were allowed for sale. "Allowing the sale of uninspected meat in particular at any level would put our own state inspection program in danger," Davis said. Representatives of the Virginia Cattlemen's Association and Virginia Farm Bureau echoed those concerns.
Supporters included farmers who described the bill as a way to test small enterprises. Dwayne McIntyre of Russell County, speaking online, recounted using existing exemptions to scale a small chicken operation that later enabled him to buy a farm and diversify into beef and a micro dairy. He said the exemptions helped him survive market disruptions during the COVID‑19 pandemic.
A committee member proposed and the panel adopted a friendly amendment to exclude meat, poultry and dairy products from the exemption. Even after the amendment, an alternate motion to pass the bill by indefinitely carried on a recorded vote, 4 to 2, ending HB 699's progress in subcommittee.
The committee chair announced the outcome and the sponsor thanked the panel as the hearing moved to the next item.
