Right now, federal law lets someone who personally raises livestock skip USDA meat inspection when they slaughter the animal for their own household, guests, or employees to eat. This bill would widen that exemption to any co-owner of the animals — not just the person who raised them — and would let an owner assign someone else, called an agent, to do the slaughtering, butchering, or transporting on their behalf, as long as the owner keeps track of which meat belongs to them. The change is aimed at community meat-sharing arrangements, sometimes called herd shares or cow-shares, where several people jointly own livestock. It would not apply to meat sold commercially, only to meat eaten by the owners, their households, guests, and employees, and that meat would still bypass routine USDA inspection either way.
Average Household Impact
- Federal meat inspection requirement — Personal-use exemption widened to co-owners, not just the raiser
Congressional Summary
Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local Foods Act of 2025 or the LOCAL Foods Act of 2025This bill provides statutory authority for expanding the personal use exemption from inspection requirements for livestock that are slaughtered and prepared by the owner or at custom animal slaughter facilities for meat products intended for personal consumption.Under current law, the personal use exemption from certain Food Safety and Inspection Service meat inspection requirements applies to a person who raises an animal and slaughters the animal exclusively for personal, household, guest, or employee uses.The bill applies the exemption to any person who meets these requirements and is the owner of an animal, in whole or in part. This allows for an animal to have multiple owners (e.g., a community or a group of people buying shares in livestock).Further, the owner may designate an agent to assist in the slaughter, preparation, or transportation of the carcasses (or parts thereof) or meat and meat food products. If the owner designates an agent, the owner must maintain custody and specific identification of the carcasses or meat.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-09-11
- Date Added
- 2026-07-10
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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