Locals gather for cottage food law workshop

MARQUETTE — MSU Extension hosted a presentation about the Michigan Cottage Food Law, which allows individuals to produce low hazard items in their homes to sell directly to consumers at places like farmers markets.

The law regulates the production of items low in risk when it comes to food safety such as pies, jams and jellies and bans the production of other produce like pickled items and apple butters. A presenter at Wednesday night’s workshop said the law has really helped individuals succeed in rural areas.

“I think it’s been really good, particularly for our small, rural markets where we don’t have a lot of bakeries or similar businesses that are doing this at a commercial scale or where they may only have a few produce vendors,” said Michelle Walk, a community food systems educator for MSU Extension. “It adds a lot of variety to the market, which helps make it a vibrant market. It’s been a really good thing for a lot of our communities to help increase the number of vendors at the farmer’s market.”

If you weren’t able to attend the presentation, an online version is available, here.