Now they’re hoping feasibility studies will show it’s not economically possible to abide by the regulation, prompting exemptions for farmers, reports the Coastal Reporter.

“We’re about to apply for a grant … once it’s spent, it’ll prove we can’t possibly implement any of their conditions,” said Powell River Regional District chair Colin Palmer, who’s been working with the Powell River Farmers’ Institute to oppose the regulations that took effect across B.C. late last September. The regulations require all meat to be slaughtered and inspected at licensed abattoirs.

The Coastal Reporter says that for small-scale producers who rely on “farm gate” sales — selling red meat, poultry, pork and eggs locally — the regulations criminalise what was until recently business-as-usual, said Corky Evans, the NDP MLA for Nelson-Creston and opposition critic for the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.

“It’s the worst thought-out piece of policy since the federal gun laws,” he said. “I don’t object to the need for meat to be slaughtered and inspected — I object to this regulation being brought in secretly. It takes honest people and makes them criminals.”