I hate to admit that I approve of anything our state lawmakers do, but they recently passed a law that makes a lot of sense (not to mention making cents!). The Texas Cottage Law allows home bakers to sell their products, as long as they label them as home-made and not inspected, and that the baker does not make more than $50,000 a year from the baked goods (not likely!). Also, we cannot sell over the internet. I've been baking bread and giving away loaves to friends, and swapping bread for grass-fed beef, vegetables we don't grow ourselves, and as thanks for help with farm chores. Now I can advertise and sell my breads openly in town. Between the eggs, herbs, honey, and now the breads, we will only be over our knees in debt, rather than over our heads! Farm life is beginning to pay off.
This is wonderful, I think I will try to get a similar law passed here. Here, all the kids have to sell candy junk, or do car washes to earn money for projects. Bake sales are illegal in Washington St unless totally private, such as a Church.
Brilliant,..someone had a lot of sense,..its something our lawmakers should think about,..we can not sell eggs,..they must have a government stamp on them,..you can not advertise organic veg for sale unless you are registered to do so,..and only after 2 years of proving you grow organic. Good thinking in Texas.
Hip Hip Hooray! Good for you. It is always so nice to see some common sense governing. (I can't complain about our laws here, I think ours are pretty lenient as it is. It's just that we have different laws for the same item, depending on where it is sold. Farmers market as opposed to a roadside stand :-? , which to me makes no sense.) All we have to do is label our homebaked product as such, we have to type it in 9pt size and include our name and address and all the ingredients AND allergy warning for wheat and dairy(duh). But there are stipulations as to what we can sell, we can't sell anything that contains a filling with dairy(spoilage) no relishes, pickles, pickled vegs. mustards, and a few other things. (mostly that don't pertain to what I take). I can sell all these things at my roadside stand, though. :-? I am not allowed to sell my eggs at a farmers market (no refrigeration), I can only accept a donation, but I can sell them at a roadside stand.
That is just great to hear, MG. It ought to be great fun and bring a few cents into your till. This is really good news.
Hooray for those that have some common sense and allow you to sell your bread legally now. I wish you every success with your sales and I hope they help with that debt!! There's nothing like homemade bread so I think you'll be selling plenty. :-D
Gosh, I'm flabbergasted that y'all are so happy for us bakers here in Texas! I called my hairdresser (a woman of infinite patience and ability!) to tell her I'd be selling bread, and she called later that afternoon with orders for French and herb breads from the customers she had mentioned it to. The guy at the feed store put up a notice with our phone number, and I had three calls yesterday. There seems to be a pent-up need for homemade bread around here!
That is good news. Glad the lawmakers can have common sense. Who knew you could be a criminal for selling bread!
Frank, I can't sell over the internet, and if I sent you a free loaf or two, it would be green and ghastly by the time it got to you (darn ). Kaay, before, if someone paid me for bread, it had to be called a "donation". I didn't even bother with that--just gave bread to friends or as thank-yous. I didn't want to go to jail over a loaf of roasted red pepper bread. The funny thing is the county health department doesn't even inspect restaurants regularly. They wait until someone gets sick and complains, then they drop by and give a cursory peek at the kitchen.
