by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

At a special town meeting held last Wednesday, Aug. 9, Machias residents voted 8-1 to adopt a local food sovereignty ordinance. 

The ordinance makes it legal for home food producers to sell direct to consumers without government licensing or inspection. Machias Selectman Bill Kitchen said that the board moved quickly to adopt the ordinance in order to allow local producers to capture as much of the summer harvest and tourist seasons as possible.