Cottage Food Laws, State by State
What is cottage food?
Cottage food laws allow homeowners to produce and sell a variety of foods from home. The rules of what is and is not accepted vary from state to state-see below-but in general only safe foods are allowed.
Foods identified as potentially hazardous foods (PHF) such as buttercream icing or pastry cream or pickles or other canned goods might be excluded from sale due to a higher risk of pathogenic (bad guys) organisms that can make people sick.
What cottage food can do for a family
An alternate income stream is the most relevant reason to seek to open a cottage food business.
Cottage food laws permit the cook or baker to make and sell a small variety of foods from home to the public. In some cases, those items may be sold at flea markets or farmers’ markets, but the restrictions and permits can include an inspection from that state’s food inspection division.
Cottage food laws can include a cap on earnings for the year as well as restrictions on which kinds of prepared foods are allowable. Since each state may have nuanced language, check to make sure you are within the limits of the law.
More restrictions
Common restrictions include foods that cannot be sold to restaurants that will resell them, grocery stores or novelty-type shops, or over the internet. Depending on your state, there may be allowances for you to advertise your business on social media, but you may be prohibited from tendering sales through the internet.
Here’s a link to a useful map that indicates, at a glance, some of the conditions for each state.
The States
WI sues for more cottage food options
If you find a broken link, send me a text, dann@culinarylibertarian.com, and I’ll look into it.
Resources
Books are our best source of information after a web search. Here are some, by no means all or even close to all, books which can start you on the road to learning about a cottage business and if it is the right choice for you.
Call to action
If you are interested in getting change started in your state, start with the county. Local is best. City or county has the most direct impact on you. Your community is more apt to listen to a resident than a constituent from miles away.
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What is food sovereignty?
At the simplest, it is eating and selling the food you grow. Food sovereignty gets complicated from there.
Here’s the first of a series of articles I’m writing about food sovereignty, markets, government forces, and profit.