Hi there,
I meant to send this a month ago, but alas, life got in the way. (Don't you hate when that happens?)
After a
disappointing 2023, I'm happy to report that
2024 has already been significantly better for the cottage food industry!And we're still only halfway through the year.
Last year, only one major bill passed (Oregon's), plus 5 smaller bills.
But this year, there have already been
4 major bills (in bold) passed, plus 3 smaller ones: (make sure to click the links to learn more about each bill)
- Alaska - After a dozen years of no changes, their food freedom bill this year provides a massive improvement to their law
- Arizona - Only one year after Arizona's governor controversially vetoed their food freedom bill, she decided to sign it this year
- Hawaii - After years of efforts to try to pass a law, Hawaii was finally successful with this year's bill
- Illinois - Their bill will not affect most producers, but for those who it does affect, it is hugely important
- New Hampshire - Although their bill suffered many compromises during the legislative process, it still resulted in a significant improvement
- Oklahoma - Oklahoma already has one of the best cottage food laws in the nation, and their new bill makes it even better
- Virginia - One entrepreneur's incident with the health department quickly led to their new bill being passed
So there you have it -- 7 bills already in the books! If we stopped here, I'd easily call it
a great year for the cottage food industry.
Although we have 5 months left to go, I'm not seeing any major indicators than any of the
10 remaining bills are likely to get passed.
But then again, I've said things like that
before and been
dead wrong! So
here's to a strong finish for a great year!Forraging ahead,
David