Hi there,

This week, I wanted to alert you to a recent update to Massachusetts' cottage food bills. (But not necessarily a good one.)

I grew up (and still live) in California, but in 2016, I moved to Massachusetts for just over a year.

It was quite the stark contrast from CA, and I'm not just talking about the weather!

In particular, I noticed (and this is a very general statement) that people in MA cared a lot more about tradition and tended to resist change. Which definitely has its benefits, at times.

And perhaps that is partly why the state has been so slow to change their (quite outdated) cottage food law.

You will want to check out this article, published almost 2 years ago.

That article highlights a couple of cottage food producers: Marcia & Andree.

Marcia has the most extreme kitchen inspection story that I've ever heard, but she was eventually able to get her business off the ground.

And last year, fortunately Andree was able to help get Boston to remove its outright ban on cottage foods.

But also in March 2021, Massachusetts finally got a couple of similar cottage food bills (H 465 & H 862) to hopefully improve its law.

Then in May, the bills were placed in the hands of a committee. And there they sat. And sat. And sat.

So I was glad to finally see an update this month. But unfortunately, it's just more red tape.

Instead of the committee actually passing anything, the update creates a "study order" that requires them to do an investigation over the next few months.

So it looks like we're back to more waiting.

But it's not all bad. They could have just let the bills die in committee, and they aren't doing that.

And sometimes these types of investigations are the precursor to a major improvement in a law.

That just happened with this year's massive improvement in Indiana, after last year's bill merely created a working group to analyze the proposed changes.

So we have hope, though I can't say I'm holding my breath for a resolution in MA anytime soon. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Until next week,
David