-1.5in.jpg)
Kudos to the Baltimore Sun! This week the Baltimore Sun published an editorial entitled Bottled Up. The editorial takes a swipe at the archaic wine shipping laws of Maryland. Anyone who has visited a winery in Maryland or outside of Maryland quickly learns they cannot have wine shipped to their home. In an attempt to appease consumers, a few years ago the state passed a law so that consumers can have wine shipped to a wine shop and then pick the wine up at the store. According to the editorial, in the last six years less than 66 cases of wine were shipped that way.
The editorial suggests that a change to the law will not occur during an election year. I hope they are wrong and that Maryland voters will contact their elected officials and demand their right to receive wine at their home.
Contact your state officials and demand your freedom to have wine shipped directly to your home. Also contact the chairperson of the Senate committee that deals with liquor laws, State Senator Joan Carter Conway. For more information about the Maryland General Assembly visit the website.
Hmmm – I wonder what Thomas Jefferson would have to say about the situation?
Cheers! Kathy
Eat and Drink Local
A couple of weeks ago while visiting Lawton Ridge Winery in, Kalamazoo, Michigan, I picked up a small advertisement for eating local. It was an easy to use small folded passport ad. It was titled, Eat Local Kalamazoo. Despite its size, the ad included “Why Eat Local Food,” Calendar of Events for September, and a passport section to be stamped by participating members. While a lot of thought must have gone into the ad, it appears that it would be relatively inexpensive to print large quantities.
Although we were not staying in Kalamazoo long enough to participate, I decided to check out the website for Eat Local Kalamazoo. The site has many good ideas for what other areas who want to support “eat local” can do.
Let’s get the local farmers, wineries, and restaurants working together so we can enjoy our own foods available in our backyards.
One small step that anyone can do is when at a restaurant ask, “What local wines and foods are on your menu today?” When enough people ask, perhaps changes will be made.
Cheers! Kathy