Local food advocates rally for meat rule changes

Raising animals and selling meat to friends and neighbors may be common, but it runs afoul of state meat inspection rules.

Peter Harvey found out the hard way. He tried raising a few pigs and shipping them to the New England Culinary Institute for students at the Montpelier-based cooking school to butcher.

But an inspector going through the Culinary Institute's kitchen spotted the pork and confiscated it, saying the pigs hadn't been slaughtered and processed according to government rules.

The experience helped turned Harvey into an activist for the idea that people should be able to raise meat locally for local consumption and that consumers should be able to buy it.

The topic is expected to be the subject of legislation when Vermont lawmakers convene next month.