A Guide to Regulations for Local Food Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Rapid growth in numbers and kinds of farmers’ markets have served as incubators of many new food enterprises and spurred some farmers to enter into value-added products or light processing activities. The growth of many small food enterprises has created challenges for local and state regulators to enforce existing food code and statutory requirements, many of which were written and developed in a different era. This Report starts with an overview of the federal, state and local regulatory framework that deals with food, followed by the focus areas of entrepreneurial activities: farmers’ markets, mobile food units and commercial kitchens.