Regardless of the locale, the trip involved getting up at close to 5am, driving in a usually freezing car, walking around waiting for my mom to figure out which tomatoes or peppers looked better and then carrying bushel baskets for her.

 

I wish I had an iPod back then. That part of the experience would have been better.

 

I hated walking (what seemed to be aimlessly) around the market; but I always went because there was a promise of baked goods. I’d beg my mom for a couple of dollars and blow it on sugar, flour and butter treats. The sugar high made it all worth it.

 

I never really wondered whether the stuff I bought would make me sick. I didn’t think a whole lot about food safety and regulation until years later. I figured that if someone could sell it, they must know what they are doing, and I didn’t have to worry about it. I didn’t know (or care) whether the butter tarts (a Canadian, and probably British delecacy; right, exactly as shown) were made in someone’s home. I just wanted them to taste good (and justify the trip). Food safety is all about trust, and I had lots of it.

 

Folks who want to make food in their home or garage and sell it to moody, overweight, Star Wars-loving teenagers at farmers markets are part of a growing business segment, coined as the cottage food industry (although I’m sure they also see other buyers for their products).

By many accounts, the cottage food industry is growing in North America and county extension agents I serve as a resource to have fielded an increased number of questions of how to break into the food industry in the past year. The poor economy is definitely a factor as is the opportunity to be part of and market to a local food movement.

 

Twenty U.S. states allow certain foods to be processed in the home and sold for consumption – but it’s a patchwork of approaches on how the businesses are regulated. In some states, the entire process is deregulated for certain exempt products. These products usually are limited to direct-selling (at a farmers’ market or roadside stand) of baked goods, jams and jellies.

 

In Michigan, as was reported in the Detroit Free Press today, a new law has been enacted that allows for home-based food production. In the absence of inspection, the law requires each item to have a label saying it was produced in an uninspected home kitchen, listing the food’s ingredients and any known allergens, and including the producer’s name and address.

The loudest opponents of this approach are often the larger businesses who are competing with them and pay for licensing and inspection – and sometimes the regulators.

 

What makes me nervous about the exempt/deregulation path and slapping a label on it is that there isn’t someone there initially to ask the questions about what folks are doing that qualifies them for the exemption. This discussion can trigger a conversation about risks and find that the producer isn’t really addressing all the things necessary to protect their customers. Or that their recipe is unsafe.

Exemption makes it so the entrepreneur has to start from scratch and be the food safety expert – sometimes with no real direction. While this might be a great wish, it’s not fair to the businesses and can lead to public health issues.

 

North Carolina is one of the 20 states that allow home-based food production, but before a producer can start selling, an initial inspection of the kitchen is required and all processes evaluated. My colleagues at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services say that they have seen a significant increase in requests for inspection of home-based food facilities over previous years and have recently dedicated staff to just address new requests. I like this approach. While inspection is just a snapshot it makes me more comfortable that someone is checking to make sure the entrepreneur is awake when it comes to food safety and can refer them to other experts to help them. It helps me trust in the safety of my butter tarts (which I still try to buy when I hit a farmers’ market).