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Keywords

farmers' market, cottage food industry, case study, jurisdiction, small farmer, local food movement, regulations, USDA, FDA, Food Safety Modernization Act, food safety requirements, operational costs, Urbana, Illinois

Document Type

Article

Abstract

It is a bucolic scene: local food growers and producers chatting with consumers who come back each week to participate in a direct and continuing conversation about food with someone they know, and to engage in commerce. This illusion of simplicity masks the ever-growing morass of conflicting, complicated, and expensive regulatory oversight that undermines the local food movement by creating barriers between producers and consumers. Those creating and implementing food policy in the United States are facing a fundamental dilemma of how to reconcile the local food movement with regulations designed to address concerns about food safety.

This article will unbundle some of the myriad of laws that vendors must navigate to sell directly to the public at one local farmers' market as a case study of what is happening in many communities. The article will begin with an examination of the legal issues regarding several foods on a local level to illustrate the pervasive and systemic problems that plague the local food movement throughout the country. Several states have now passed "cottage food industry" statutes that provide exemptions from some of the state regulations. These exemptions are motivated by a desire to support the local food movement in hopes of improving health, economic development, and the environment. The second part of this article will compare several of these statutes to explore whether they provide adequate and appropriate relief for local food producers and consumers. Certain foods, such as raw milk, have received much attention but are not covered in this piece because they raise idiosyncratic and complicated safety issues. The goal of this piece is to focus on foods more likely to be sought after by mainstream consumers.

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