Hi there,
A month ago, I
wrote about how Arizona needs to create new rules before anyone can use their law, and that can be a very long process (months or sometimes even years).
Well, not only have they already drafted new proposed rules, but they've decided to do something really unprecedented:
Arizona is
letting people use their new law right now, even without the new rules finalized!
I have never seen this happen before. Most health/ag departments are too afraid of something going wrong.
But
Arizona's health department has consistently shown strong support for cottage food producers, dating all the way back to 2011 when their initial bill passed.
They have always had one of the most helpful
cottage food websites of any state, they've always stayed up-to-date with maintaining their
registry, and they even helped produce
a video back in 2011 to help promote their new law (it's extremely cheesy, but never fails to put a smile on my face).
And now, they are showing continued support by letting people use the new law as soon as possible, and by drafting rules that only seek to clarify their new law, instead of doing what most states do: using their rulemaking powers to add restrictions and red tape for producers.
All-in-all, it's refreshing to see, especially since their new law would make most health departments cringe.
It is,
by far, one of the very best cottage food and food freedom laws in the nation, and is now the
first state to get a score of 100%* on
Forrager's map!
Click here to learn more about Arizona's new lawForraging ahead,
David
* I wouldn't say that Forrager's ranking system is perfect though. Given the fact that Arizona doesn't allow indirect sales of certain perishable foods, I still consider
Wyoming's law to be better. Also, it's not fully clear if Arizona allows interstate sales, but at least at the moment, it appears they do.