STOCKHOLM, Maine – Residents of a small town in Aroostook County are the first to set up a food market following the spirit and rules of Maine’s food sovereignty law.
Organizers of Stockholm Sovereign Market held their third members-only market on Saturday, July 6, with nearly a dozen vendors selling locally produced dairy products, bread, baked goods, canned goods, herbal teas and more.
At first glance, the event looked like a traditional farm stand: Vendors set up shop in designated spaces around the community center gym and chatted with customers about their wares.
But there are big differences: All food vendors at Stockholm’s market pay $5 to rent space for a year and don’t need a state license or certification to sell their wares. Shoppers pay $5 a year to belong to the market and can’t enter without proof of membership. They also sign a risk waiver that prohibits them from suing the market or vendors if they suspect the food they buy there has made them sick.
The market became possible because the 2017 food sovereignty law was recently quietly expanded to allow unauthorized sellers to sell outside the place of production for the first time. The amendment is the latest development in the nearly 15-year history of the movement in Maine, a state marked by a passion for individual freedom on the one hand and concerns about food safety on the other.
“We want to connect people directly with farmers and producers, without a third party,” says Jerry Furst, founder and president of Stockholm Sovereign Market. “People want more personal responsibility and more knowledge about how their food is grown.”
The law allows local governments to pass ordinances allowing residents to sell food directly to customers without a permit or inspection by the Maine Department of Agriculture and Forestry. A provision added under pressure from federal agencies requires that meat and poultry must still be processed in a state-inspected facility, with an exception for small bird producers.
Alexandra Lord of Stockholm (right) accepts money from customers at Stockholm Sovereign Market. Photo by Melissa Lizotte/Aroostook Republican
Some vendors find licensing burdensome, while others value the local control, community connections, small business opportunities, and individual decision-making that food sovereignty brings. In fact, the first version of the Food Sovereignty Act was titled “An Act to Allow Local Control Over Food Systems.”
That independence has been a focus for advocates since Blue Hill Peninsula farmers began organizing for a food sovereignty ordinance in 2011. Advocates also say Maine farmers have traditionally sold and shared with their neighbors, and the ordinance would allow them to do so openly.
Jimmy DeBiasi, executive director of the Maine Farmers Market Federation, said there will likely continue to be conflict and tension at traditional farmers markets over expansion and that “tough conversations” will continue about whether to allow unlicensed vendors.
This year, Först was elected chairman of Stockholm’s non-profit market, which has so far attracted 177 members, including vendors and customers.
There is no official tally of how many towns in Maine have food sovereignty ordinances, but 113 are listed on the “Local Food Code” list for 2021. Not all towns are on board with the proposed amendment.
Stockholm passed the ordinance in May 2024, based on a draft from the Maine Association of Municipalities. After many resident-led meetings, residents realized that publicly run farm stands would be exempt from sovereign law and that all vendors would need state licensing unless they sold eggs or produce.
So residents agreed to set up a “private membership association” to host market events that comply with the food sovereignty law, which also allows for direct transactions between producers and consumers through “buying clubs” on land owned, leased or rented by food producers.
Först, who lives in New Sweden and runs Först Family Farm with his wife, Nicole, is a member of the city’s Planning Commission and is helping to develop a food sovereignty ordinance based on the draft MMA that was presented to city officials. Först said many other cities, including Woodland and Blaine, have also requested samples of the ordinance.
Without food sovereign status, producers from other towns would not be able to participate in Stockholm’s markets unless they sold their produce or eggs there, Först said.
So far, there have been no complaints from customers at the market about possible food poisoning, Foerst said.
The state also hasn’t received any reports of foodborne illness from sovereign food producers, according to Ben Metcalf, Maine’s inspection program manager, which he said would be difficult to track anyway because of the state’s independent nature, the long incubation period for foodborne illness and the fact that many people are unlikely to go to the doctor with food poisoning.
Vendors at Stockholm’s markets must list ingredients to help customers protect themselves against food allergies, but are otherwise expected to follow basic hygienic cooking methods without government oversight.
“This is the personal responsibility part,” Ferst said. “We don’t want anyone to get sick, and we want people to go directly to the farmer if they have any concerns.”
Traditional farmers’ market organizers are largely opposed to the recent Food Sovereignty Amendment and sovereign markets due to concerns about vendors, information available to consumers, and the reputation of Maine-grown products. They worry that if someone gets sick from sovereign foods, it could cause disruption to the multi-million dollar farmers’ markets and small agricultural industry here.
DeBiasi said requiring in-person sales at produce sites was a key part of the original law that the federation “loved” and that was supported by the state Agriculture Department, which did not support the expansion.
“The expansion of Maine’s Food Sovereignty Act to allow virtually anyone to sell nearly any product to anyone, anywhere increases risks to Maine residents and the tens of millions of tourists who visit our state each year,” wrote Craig LaPine, director of the department’s Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Billy Bob Faulkham (R-Winter Harbor), offered the amendment as a common-sense change.
Nicole Först of Först Family Farm in New Sweden talks with customers at the Stockholm Sovereign Market. Nicole and her husband, Jerry Först, helped Stockholm become food sovereign and establish the market. Photo by Melissa Lizotte/Aroostook Republican
“We have legislation that allows the sale of these products, but it completely limits the ability to distribute them,” he testified. “I think people should be able to buy these products if the consumer and the producer agree.”
At last Saturday’s market, many sellers saw the Stockholm model as the best way to reach customers without having to go through the costly and lengthy process of obtaining state approval.
Home-based food producers who want to get a license must have their well water tested, their septic system inspected and any canned or bottled foods tested for shelf life. Supporters counter that in exchange for the benefits sellers get, the licensing process is cheap and easy.
There are about 9,000 licensed operations currently, Metcalf said. It’s hard to track whether people are letting their licenses lapse and becoming self-sufficient food producers, but he thinks they’re probably doing so.
Kiff Tucker and Karma Swaney of Le Si Fa Family Farm in Frenchville sold raw goat milk and other dairy products on Saturday. Tucker and Swaney have advocated for a food sovereignty ordinance in Frenchville, which went into effect this year, to help farms like theirs that want to sell without state certification or a license.
” [food sovereignty] “If we violate the law, we can’t sell our products,” Swaney said.
In rural areas like Aroostook County, the expansion of the law makes it easier for smaller producers to sell. Instead of customers coming to their homes (a provision that allows buyers to see the production), sellers can use other locations or work together to sell at the destination. In addition to Stockholm, a smaller, more informal market without membership has formed in Hodgdon.
“This was happening across the state even without this amendment and we’d have to address it on the regulatory side,” Metcalf said.
Alexandra Lord of Stockholm, who sold homemade stromboli, pies, cookies and canned rhubarb as a hobby years ago, entered a Stockholm market and started selling again in June.
Lord said the market allows hobbyist bakers like her to sell without a license but still be able to educate customers about where their food comes from.
“In the stores, you don’t necessarily know if there’s food coloring or other things in it that you shouldn’t eat,” Lord says. “The people here pride themselves on quality. [of their food].”
