HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) DEP Secretary David E.
Hess called for updating the
state’s water plan and identifying
critical water-planning areas dur
ing visits to the Hourglass Foun
dation’s Water Forum held May
16 in Lancaster and the Lehigh
Valley Water Suppliers’ annual
Water Issues Luncheon May 10
in Bath.
“Gov. Schweiker has pro
claimed May 5-11 Safe Drinking
Water Week in Pennsylvania to
bring greater awareness to our
valuable water resources,” Hess
said. “The economic and envi
ronmental future of our com
monwealth depends on a safe
and plentiful supply of water.
“Drinking water doesn’t sim
ply come from your faucet. It
comes from a well, a stream or a
Marketers May Be Exempt From License
PIKETON, Ohio Ohio farm
ers who sell their products at
larmer’s markets, farm product
auctions, and similar direct mar
keting outlets may be exempt
from food license registration and
inspection if they meet certain re
quirements.
An amendment in Ohio’s Un
iform Food Safety Code, Senate
Bill 136 passed by the Ohio Gen
eral Assembly last fall, allows for
retail food establishment license
and inspection exemptions from
direct agricultural marketing fa
cilities based upon the types of
foods being sold.
John Ellerman, an Ohio State
University Extension agricultural
marketing specialist, said the
change in the law was designed
to make it easier and less expen
sive for smaller farmers to main
tain their business.
“When the Uniform Food
Safety Code was originally
passed, all direct food marketers
had to have a retail food license
that was obtained from the local
health department. Prices ranged
anywhere from $lOO to $500,”
said Ellerman, who works at
Ohio State’s South Centers in
Piketon, Ohio. “This created a
public outcry because for the
small-scale producer selling a
couple hundred dollars of vege
tables a year, he simply can’t af
ford that cost.”
According to the change in the
law, farmers who sell at a farm
er's market can claim exemption
if they only sell one or more of
the following:
• Commercially pre-packaged
food that is not potentially haz
ardous, on the condition that the
food is contained in displays on
the premises where business is
conducted and the total space of
the display is less than or equal to
100 cubic feet.
• Fresh unprocessed fruits or
vegetables.
* Maple syrup, sorghum or
honey,
• Products from a
food production oper
ation and if they are
properly labeled. La-
beling requirements
include name and ad-
dress of the operation;
name of the food prod
uct; ingredients; net
weight or net volume;
and a statement in
10-point type that the
product is home pro-
duced.
Farmers who sell at
farm auctions can
claim exemption if one
or more of the follow-
ing items are offered
for sale:
• Eggs sold to the
final consumer if ob-
tained from an exempt
State Water Plan Update Urged During Visits
reservoir. Clean and plentiful
water depends on each of us and
on the public and private water
system operators who work hard
to make sure we have a safe sup
ply to drink.”
Hess urged the state Legisla
ture to pass the Water Resources
Conservation and Protection Act
to update the state’s water plan
and to identify critical water
planning areas.
Throughout April and May of
last year, DEP conducted 15
water forums across the state to
gain input from more than 1,700
citizens about their water-re
source needs. That input is the
basis of Gov. Schweiker’s pro
posed water-resources legislative
initiative, which would provide a
historic opportunity to:
• Update the state water plan.
• Identify Critical Water
farm (500 or fewer hens).
• Poultry sold to the final con
sumer if obtained from an
exempt farm (1,000 or fewer
chickens raised, processed and
sold per year).
• Non-amendable meats sold
to the final consumer, such as
rabbit, bison, ostrich or emu.
• Fresh unprocessed fruits or
vegetables.
• Maple syrup, sorghum or
honey.
• Products from a cottage
food production operation and if
they are properly labeled. Label
ing requirements include name
and address of the operation;
name of the food product; ingre
dients; net weight or net volume;
and a statement in 10-point type
that the product is home pro
duced.
A farm market may claim
exemption if one or more of the
following items are offered for
sale:
• Commercially pre-packaged
food that is not potentially haz
ardous, on the condition that the
food is contained in displays on
the premises where business is
conducted and the total space of
the display is less than or equal to
100 cubic feet.
• Fresh unprocessed fruits or
vegetables.
• Maple syrup, sorghum or
honey.
• Products from a cottage
food production operation and if
they are properly labeled. Label
ing requirements include name
and address of the operation;
name of the food product; ingre
dients; net weight or net volume;
and a statement in 10-point type
that the product is home pro
duced.
• Cider and other juices man
ufactured on-site.
• Eggs sold to the final con
sumer if obtained from an
exempt farm (500 or fewer hens).
• Poultry sold to the final con
sumer if obtained from an
exempt farm (1,000 or fewer
cottage
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• Promote voluntary water
conservation.
• Improve stormwater man
agement and establish private
water-well standards.
After a week of special events
including a water festival called
Hydro Mania, the Lehigh Valley
Water Suppliers (LVWS) wrap
ped up the week with their annu
al Water Issues Forum. The lun
cheon has been a tradition of the
non-profit group for more than a
decade as the 17 member utilities
gather to celebrate National
Drinking Water Awareness
Week.
LVWS President Doug Bowen,
manager of Whitehall Township
Authority, said the organization’s
activities during this week have
been focused on promoting water
awareness among the Lehigh
chickens raised, processed and
sold per year).
• Non-amendable meats sold
to the final consumer, such as
rabbit, bison, ostrich or emu, on
the condition that the person of
fering to sell the meat raises and
processes the animals.
Ellerman said that home
bakers are also exempt from ob
taining a license if they are not
producing any potentially haz
ardous baked goods. “Things like
bread are fine, but if someone
wants to bake and sell something
like a creme pie, a home bakers
license is required,” he said. “One
item that is still controversial is
marketing meat and eggs at
farmer’s markets. You can sell
them directly to the final con
sumer at product auctions and
farm markets, but not at farmer’s
markets without a mobile retail
food license. The meat has to be
state or USDA-inspected when
sold with a mobile retail food li
cense.”
Ellerman said that farm mar
kets, farmers’ markets, and farm
product auctions seeking exemp
tion must register with the Ohio
Department of Agriculture.
Forms or further information is
available at http://
www.ohiofruit.org or http://
www.ohiovegetables.org by fol
lowing links on “Growers News”
and “Legislative and Regulatory
Issues.” Information may also be
obtained from the Ohio Depart
ment of Agriculture’s website at
http://www.state.oh.us/agr/ and
following links on “Food Safety.”
More information is available
regarding cottage food produc
tion, maple syrup and ___
sorghum processing, bee
keeping and selling honey,
mobile retail food license
labeling, additional miscel
laneous exemptions, and
other definitions relative to
the Uniform Food Safety
Code and Senate Bill 136
at the above web sites. Spe-
Valley’s youth.
“We completed Hydro Mania,
our second annual water festival,
where approximately 1,000 stu
dents teamed about the impor
tance of source water protec
tion,” Bowen said.
As part of Safe Drinking
Water Week, DEP recognized
1,567 Pennsylvania water-supply
systems that have complied with
all federal and state drinking
water-quality standards and
monitoring requirements during
2001.
“We want to recognize the ex
traordinary record of compliance
for water suppliers who have met
all of their monitoring and treat
ment requirements during the
year,” Hess said. “These sup
pliers have produced water for
public consumption that com
plies with and often exceeds ad-
Registration
cific questions should be ad
dressed to the ODA, Division of
Food Safety at (614) 728-6250.
“Farmers should contact their
local health department to apply
for a mobile retail food establish
ment license and they can use the
license anywhere in the state,”
said Ellerman.
“My recommendation is that
sellers at fanner’s markets, road
side markets and produce auc
tions be assertive in working with
their local health departments. It
has been my experience that most
health department personnel
working with food safety issues
will work with producers to help
them meet food safety require
ments,” said Ellerman. “It’s im
portant for a farmer to ask for
help. By doing so they can devel
op a win-win situation.”
Ellerman also encourages pro
ducers to involve their local Ex
tension agent in the process.
“There are obstacles in farmers
getting the knowledge they need
to do it right, and that’s where
county agents can play a role,”
he said.
Direct agricultural markets are
increasing throughout the USDA,
farmer’s markets have increased
63 percent from 1994 to 2000.
More than 2,800 farmer’s mar
kets operate in the U.S. The
ODA lists more that 600
statewide farm markets, roadside
markets, produce auctions, and
other agricultural markets in its
Ohio Farmers Market Directory.
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dards.”
Each system will receive a cer
tificate from DEP to recognize its
work in preserving water as a
precious natural resource, for
conserving drinking and ground
water supplies, and for maintain
ing water quality.
“Everyone can get involved in
protecting water supplies by join
ing a local watershed-protection
group, taking steps to conserve
the water they use, and support
ing local water-system improve
ments that will ensure safer
drinking-water supplies,” Hess
said.
At the Hourglass Foundation
Water Forum In Lancaster, Hess
served as the featured speaker on
a panel discussion on the topic,
“Is Lancaster County Running
Out of Water?” Also on the panel
were Jeanne Sanntag, chair of
the Lancaster County Water Re
sources Task Force; Tom Bald
rige, president, Lancaster Cham
ber of Business and Industry; and
Daniel Zimmerman, Warwick
Township Manager and chair of
the Lancaster County Planning
Commission. The panel modera
tor was Donald Roseman Jr.,
president of the Hourglass Foun
dation. More than 50 people at
tended the forum, including Lan
caster County Commissioners
Paul Thibault and Ronald Ford.
During the forum, Hess urged
the state legislature to pass the
Water Resources Conservation
and Protection Act, which would
update the state’s water plan and
identify critical water-planning
areas.
“Last week, I toured nine dif
ferent watershed-restoration
projects with the Lancaster
County Conservation District,
and it was obvious the people of
Lancaster care deeply about im
proving water quality,” Hess
said. “We now need to carry that
concern one step further and deal
with water-quantity issues.”
The mission of the Hourglass
Foundation is to inform citizens
about the issues arising from the
growth and development of Lan
caster County and provide both
public forums and open channels
of communication by connecting
local people, organizations, com
munities and government to dis
cuss common issues and to solve
growth-related problems.
For more information on
drinking water or the water sys
tems recognized, visit DEP
through the PA Power Port at
www.state.pa.us, PA Keyword:
“drinking water.” To see pictures
of the visit, go to DEP’s website
and click on “scrapbook.”