Vermont Business Magazine Buyers of meat from Gregory Finch’s Vermont’s Family Farm in Enosburg Falls thought they were buying anti-biotic free Vermont pork, and consumers paid a premium price for it. But Finch cannot prove his pigs were born and raised in Vermont or were anti-biotic free for their entire lives – and the Attorney General’s evidence indicates otherwise. So Finch, who is no longer farming or living in Vermont, and the Attorney General have settled for a civil penalty of over $140,000.
“Vermonters are willing to pay extra for meat raised in Vermont. We won’t let their money pad the pockets of those making fake claims,” said Attorney General Bill Sorrell.
Finch admits that his representations as to the origin and production were relied upon for labeling and marketing by the Vermont Packing House, Black River Meats and Vermont Smoke and Cure, and that consumers paid a premium price for products made from his pigs. Finch began raising pigs in 2009 and circulated a protocol that stated his pigs were “born, grown and processed exclusively in the State of Vermont.”
Later he signed a protocol with Black River Meats which required that his pigs be raised the lesser of 90 days or half their lives in Vermont. Although his pigs were all slaughtered and processed in Vermont, they never were exclusively born or grown in Vermont and were not in Vermont for half their lives; the Attorney General maintains that Finch’s records show that they also could not have been in Vermont for 90 days before slaughter.
The "feeder" pigs were purchased primarily from New Holland, PA.
Only $5,000 of the penalty of $143,875 has been paid due to Finch’s demonstrated inability to pay. He will have to submit annual financial reports to the Attorney General’s Office until 2020 and pay additional amounts towards the penalty should his financial circumstances change. Finch now lives in Sullivan, NH.
For more information on the use of “Vermont” on food labels, and particularly on meat, click here.
Vermont AG: Oct 14, 2016