Wyoming committee weighs Food Freedom Act amendments as department and small producers clash over raw‑milk sales

Anna Johnson, a staff attorney with the legislature’s Office of Legislative Service, opened the meeting by presenting two bill drafts to amend the Wyoming Food Freedom Act. One draft (27 LSO 46) would allow commercial food establishments to use unpasteurized milk as an ingredient if the end consumer receives written notice; another would permit a producer, a producer’s designated agent, or a third‑party seller to sell meat raised by the producer and slaughtered at a producer facility or at a custom slaughter facility. Johnson told the committee the drafts and LSO comments are in the meeting packet and should be read in the context of existing federal law.

The committee turned quickly to the practical limit: federal meat and milk rules. Doug Mimoto, the Wyoming Department of Agriculture’s food‑safety spokesperson, told the committee the department acted after documented complaints and that state inspectors were required to respond. "If you want to sell meat, then you have to have this retail food license in the state of Wyoming," Mimoto said, and he emphasized three reasons the department enforces licensing: traceability for recalls, labeling/misbranding protections, and prevention of adulteration.

Producers and local food advocates said those legal constraints do not address the real‑world effects on small, farm‑based retailers. Mark Nelson, owner of Hippie Cow Crearyy in Cody, described an inspector ordering the farm to stop selling raw‑milk lattes at its farm stand and later telling him the same latte could be made in his home kitchen and brought back to the stand. "I could take your order, drive down there, make you a latte in our private home kitchen and bring it back and hand it to you," Nelson said, describing what he called inconsistent guidance. Nelson said the local response led to follow‑up demands from municipal inspectors (including ADA upgrades he estimated would cost about $20,000) and the removal of some commercially produced breakfast items from his storefront.

WFresh, a Cheyenne storefront that marketed inspected meat from local producers, and a number of producers and advocacy groups told the committee they had been affected by the recent enforcement actions. Producer‑representatives and the Wyoming Food Coalition argued the draft statutes could be clarified to protect designated‑agent retailing and to avoid forcing every vendor into full commercial licensure. "We’re a leader in progressive cottage food law," Satie Clarendon of the Wyoming Food Coalition told the committee, offering the coalition as an intermediary to interpret statute language and train small sellers.

Department staff and LSO repeatedly told members the eventual legal outcome will depend in large part on federal action. Johnson and witnesses noted the prospective Prime Act in Congress could change which sales states may permit, but Mimoto said the department must implement its obligations under the Federal Meat Inspection Act until such federal law changes.

The committee did not vote on the bill drafts. Members asked staff to convene a follow‑up working group with LSO, Department of Agriculture officials and stakeholder representatives to draft clearer language that preserves consumer safety, protects traceability and labeling, and avoids unintentionally eliminating small farm retail markets. The committee asked LSO to provide targeted research and suggested the department and food‑industry stakeholders should participate in negotiations ahead of a future committee meeting.