{"id":22950,"date":"2018-01-24T12:24:43","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T18:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=22950"},"modified":"2018-01-24T12:24:43","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T18:24:43","slug":"in-home-cottage-food-sales-considered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=22950","title":{"rendered":"In-home cottage food sales considered"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Agriculture Committee heard testimony Jan. 23 on a bill would authorize Nebraskans to sell food already authorized for sale at farmers\u2019 markets to customers from their homes.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Sue Crawford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Current law allows for the sale of foods such as baked goods, fruits, vegetables and herbs directly to a consumer at a farmers\u2019 market if the consumer is informed by a sign at the sale location that the food was prepared in a kitchen that was not subject to regulation and inspection. LB764, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Sue Crawford, would expand that provision to direct consumer sales.<\/p>\n

Crawford said LB764 would make it easier for Nebraska cottage food producers to earn an income without compromising public safety. State Department of Health and Human Services data show no outbreaks of foodborne illnesses related to farmers\u2019 markets, she said, and it would seem logical that consumers should be allowed to buy the same foods made under the same conditions directly from the producer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis legislation simply makes cottage food available throughout the year and provides access to local foods in communities that do not have farmers\u2019 markets,\u201d Crawford said.<\/p>\n

The bill would limit an operation\u2019s use of the internet to advertising and taking orders, and the goods could not be shipped by mail or a courier service. An operation would be limited to $25,000 in gross annual sales.<\/p>\n

Nicole Fox, director of government relations for the Platte Institute, testified in support of the bill, saying that it would boost state economic growth. Allowing producers to make cottage foods in their homes rather than in a commercial kitchen would reduce startup costs for small food businesses, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the increased focus on supporting and growing local economies,\u201d Fox said, \u201ccottage food laws need to be broad enough to allow producers to make their operations viable local businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, also testified in support of the bill, saying that it would help farmers who are looking for ways to supplement their income after several years of low commodity prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a growing number of entrepreneurs who are trying to augment their incomes with this kind of in-home business,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it seems to me that this is a way where we can provide guidance and oversight and yet we can reduce some of the regulatory barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also testifying in support of the bill was Skylar Falter, a beginning farmer. Falter said that excess food, such as second-rate vegetables that do not sell at a farmers\u2019 market, often goes to waste. LB764 would help to eliminate that waste and provide healthier food to communities. Many beginning farmers lack the capital to build commercial kitchen space, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this really allows farmers and other individuals in rural communities\u2014and urban\u2014to diversify income streams without taking a huge risk,\u201d Falter said.<\/p>\n

Testifying in opposition to the bill was Kathy Siefken, executive director of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association. When a consumer buys food at a farmers\u2019 market, Siefken said, she has a clearer understanding of the risk of eating that food than she would if she were to purchase it directly from the producer outside that setting.<\/p>\n

Additionally, she said, LB764 would not require producers to receive any food safety training or to follow cottage food guidelines from the Association of Food and Drug Officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cBottom line: This bill compromises food safety,\u201d Siefken said.<\/p>\n

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Agriculture Committee heard testimony Jan. 23 on a bill would authorize Nebraskans to sell food already authorized for sale at farmers\u2019 markets to customers from their homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[106],"class_list":["post-22950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-sen-sue-crawford"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/LB764Crawford1-23-18a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22950"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22957,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22950\/revisions\/22957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}