Hi there,
Who knew that Virginia would be grabbing the cottage food headlines to kick off 2024?
I certainly didn't...
their cottage food law hasn't been updated in over a decade.
But it looks like
that's about to change!You might recall
my newsletter from a month ago, where I said that
Virginia's new cottage food bill (HB 759) might improve their law this year.
But at the time, I didn't know just
how much it would improve it. Initially the bill was simply
trying to allow direct sales at markets (which would be a huge improvement).
But recently they changed the bill to
also allow online sales and in-state shipping.
And guess what -- it passed! It has now passed through both the House and Senate, and
assuming the governor signs it, it will become a law this summer!What a turnaround from just a few months ago, when Kelly Phillips had her business
mostly shutdown by the ag department.
How ironic that
in trying to enforce the law and restrict a cottage food producer, they unintentionally created a spark that caused less restrictions for everyone.
With this change,
Forrager's map will get a bit greener, and
Virginia will no longer have one of the worst basic cottage food laws in the country!Forraging ahead,
David