Cottage Food Laws

[smstonypoint]

A recent thread dealing with the regulation of small-scale farming (http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-banning-farming-post3727942.html#post3727942) got me to thinking about the regulations that affect small-scale food processing. Here's a recent report that summarizes state-level cottage food laws: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/foodpo...13/08/FINAL_Cottage-Food-Laws-Report_2013.pdf .

I have seen numerous threads in which members have discussed the feasibility of small-scale agriculture, but I don't recall any discussions of small-scale food processing. Are any of you members of the cottage food industry?

Steve

 

[Gunny]

I did a little commercial fishing for awhile, primarily for spoonbill roe. The licenses alone were expensive, the equipment was expensive and the federal/state health regulations and inspections regarding your processing area and equipment were not only expensive, but very time consuming.
It finally got to the point to where. while it looked like we were bringing in a lot of money, the money going out to sustain the equipment and licenses made it just barely a minimum wage job. Two years ago we sold all our equipment and let the licenses expire.

 

[oosik]

For twenty years I was on the "other side" of this issue. I was Director of Environmental Health in Anchorage, Ak and also for two years here in a agricultural county in WA. In both cases the "laws of the land" required small cottage food industries to comply the same as a full blown large scale food manufacturer. As Gunny has indicated, in most cases, the small food industry can simply not adsorb the costs associated with compliance with the health laws. And the public will not tolerate an industry - either large or small - that produces and markets a product that can make people sick or worse. Local, state & federal laws regulating the food industry are some of the toughest laws in existence.

 

[DFB]

Where I work we do jams, jellies, pickles, relishes, fruit and vegetable breads, apple, pumpkin and berry pies an make cider donuts and have a cider press which is both state and fed inspected.. Now have two BOH approved kitchen areas plus local licensing authority requires having a bakery permit and some of us have serve safe certification a requirement here for public food handling.

Some of my market associates also make cheese, there is also a Carmel sauce producer, others do baked goods there is quite a bit of that, one even makes up cannoli's fresh, plus another specializes in bagels. Some actually have cooked food products like galumpkis. Another one has a homemade sauce business. The difficult part (at least around here) is meat processing, highly regulated but changes are happening making it more accessible to small scale farmers.

And of course there is the local honey and maple syrup producer too.

Some of those mentioned do have onsite farm stores, but several cottage bakers have either home or business delivery, and others only use the farmers market as their retail outlet

 

[DFB]

I'll also agree with what some of the others said about the prohibitive costs for small scale producing of value added products. Our donut kitchen because of the grease had to have both commercial ventilation plus an ANSUL fire suppression system installed to met current code requirements. So we had to spend big bucks beyond the initial cost of the fryer. Sadly while researching the local operations before I set up our installation I found out that two places here are doing similar products and operating without the state required automatic fire suppression. They just have hand held units on site...small time enforcement of regulation can be an advantage or disadvantage depending how one wants to look at it I guess.

The bagel girl wanted to expand in her home but researching installing a larger oven would also need electrical upgrades which she wasn't prepared to do. And one of the farmer market bakers left because she didn't want to pay for additional permits from multiple regulatory agencies on top of the market fees. Since the cottage industry does add to the local economies several places have community licensed kitchens where one can rent space to process. There are even some mobile kitchen units being used due to the rural nature of the communities. And the sauce manufacturer needs more space. He is negotiations with a local municipality to use a currently closed school's cafeteria to become a small business incubator kitchen which could probably avail itself to some types of grant money available on different levels. Where there's a will there are ways. Another year round operating fresh produce and market store took a different approach to expand their offerings of local meats, cheeses, and bakery by enlarging and upgrading their facility and having the individual cottage producers as tenets under their roof. I am really interested in the intricacies of that deal.

Any type of small business venture has major costs involved in startups which makes turning a profit extremely difficult. But I think added value products in farming has some distinct advantages and a lot of behind the scenes support at least around here it does. And because these items are so prominent at markets concern for public safety from food borne illness is major concern. As much as I trust my own grandmothers cooking I'm sure no one wants someone's cat walking around on the kitchen counter either. Geez I once knew a local girl who would cold pack her pickles for market. Quick and easy. Most people would understand they would have to be kept refrigerated but not all.

 

[brin]

In the late 1970's my Dad and FIL raised catfish in our lake on the farm in cages, they harvested , cleaned them and sold them to local restaurants and they were never inspected or licensed....but it was still to labor intensive and not profitable so after a few years they stopped.

 

[DFB]

Came across this inclusive list of Vermont food producers in my news mail today. A lot meet the definition of a cottage industry. A few on list obviously are larger retail operations. Several brewers and few winemakers too. Anyhow I thought I would share...small business industry ventures abound here in the Green Mountain state.


Vermont Food Producers | Vermont Business Magazine

 

[randy41]

this is all state regulated so laws can and will be different where you are. Here in VA for most products you need a certified kitchen which means an inspector comes by to check it out. it has to have a 2 bowl stainless steel sink and sealed floors and painted walls...the point being that everything in it needs to be cleanable and no pets have access. To can acidic foods like tomatoes you have to take a process course. Recipes for anything you make are submitted to the state for approval which doesn't take very long. There is a shortage of certified kitchens around here and folks pay pretty good for their use.