What This Bill Does · Plain English
Summary · Congress.gov
Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local Foods Act of 2025 or the LOCAL Foods Act of 2025 This 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.
Action Timeline
2025-12-02
Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry.
2025-09-11
Introduced in House
2025-09-11
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
2025-09-11
Introduced in House
Frequently Asked Questions
Did HR.5341 pass?
HR.5341 is still alive. Current stage: COMMITTEE. Pass likelihood: pending.
What does HR.5341 do?
Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local Foods Act of 2025 or the LOCAL Foods Act of 2025 This 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 em…
Who sponsored HR.5341?
HR.5341 was sponsored by Eugene Simon Vindman (D-Virginia).
Full Bill Text
119 HR 5341 IH: Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local Foods Act of 2025 U.S. House of Representatives 2025-09-11 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5341 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 11, 2025 Mr. Vindman (for himself and Mr. Baird ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to exempt certain owners of livestock from inspection requirements, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local Foods Act of 2025 or the LOCAL Foods Act of 2025 . 2. Exemptions from inspection Section 23(a) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 623(a) ) is amended by striking the slaughtering by any person of animals of his own raising, and the preparation by him and transportation in commerce of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products of such animals exclusively for use by him and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees and inserting the slaughtering of animals by any person that is an owner of the animals in whole or in part, or the preparation or transportation in commerce of the carcasses or parts thereof or meat and meat food products from those animals by an owner, if such slaughter, preparation, or transportation is exclusively for the use of an owner or the household, nonpaying guests, or employees of an owner, subject to the condition that if an owner designates an agent to assist in such slaughter, preparation, or transportation, the owner shall maintain custody and specific identification of the carcasses or parts thereof or meat and meat food products, as determined by the Secretary .
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