Tennessee Food Freedoms Act of 2022 Governs Our Cottage Food Laws
A friendly reminder to place your order and a little bit more about cottage food laws!
Reminder: Order closes at noon on Monday! (less than 24 hours from now!)
Spring has sprung on the Mountain with the birds and bees busy as can be! Celebrate with some beautiful fresh-cut tulips from Garden of Adrienne and spring perennials like the lovely phlox for your landscape. Keep your immune system function healthy with some elderberry white pine syrup from Bird Fork Farm, and don’t forget to browse our fine selection of vegetable starts for your garden!
I remember growing up and visiting my great grandmother Mamoo’s home in Commerce, GA. She always kept old milk jugs with the tops cut off for us to gather pecans from her backyard. Next to her pecan trees, she had a beautiful and productive little farm with collards, string beans, tomatoes, sweet corn, and more wonderful vegetables. With whatever she couldn’t give to neighbors or relatives, she’d can to eat throughout the season. And they’d do the same.
Small farms like hers have become increasingly more rare, leaving fresh and local food to feel like a luxury rather than a subsistence necessity. In my great grandmother’s lifetime, the population of Americans involved in agriculture dropped from 30% to about 2%.
With a decline in small farms and a transition to big agriculture, it’s incredibly important to support small farmers and food producers. That’s why we’re highlighting the Tennessee Food Freedom Act in today’s newsletter.
Cottage Food Laws and the Tennessee Food Freedom Act
In our newsletter about food terminology, we discussed cottage foods, defined as foods prepared at home. This week’s newsletter talks a little bit more about that definition and how the Tennessee Food Freedoms Act of 2022 (SB 693) governs cottage foods.
State agencies, such as the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA), United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are the chief offices involved in the regulation of manufactured foods.
Under the TN Food Freedoms Act, homemade food producers can produce non-temperature controlled for safety (non-TCS) foods within state lines without regulatory oversight. Though there is no regulatory oversight, food safety requirements still apply. Find more parameters here. Such foods must be labeled with the producer’s name, home address, telephone number, food product name, ingredients, and the statement “This product was produced at a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens.”
SB 693 allows homemade food businesses to sell their food products directly to Tennesseans through farmer’s markets (like us!), roadside stands, coffee shops, grocery stores, restaurants, events, and even deliver their products without going through arduous inspections, licensing, and permitting requirements. This act supports small and local businesses while connecting consumers to their food source and providing them with more choices.
So, with that, celebrate your food freedom and buy from some of our cottage food producers like Bird Fork Farm, Solace Farm, Seven Pines, Mary’s Kitchen, Helen’s Half Acre, Quiet Oak Farmhouse, and Full Circle Candles and Baked Goods.
