They did this where I live and we did bake everything in the kitchen for one thing and then we decided to ignore them and just personally told everyone that they should bake them at home and then we’d cut them and wrap them in the church kitchen. Some busybody from our own church ratted us out so we contacted our local state politicians and now we are able to do it. I don’t know how long it will last but they wouldn’t even let you have bake sales!
I think it is big business who is afraid you aren’t going to be buying from them but the stoopid idiots get our money for the ingredients.
When I was a kid, the ladies at St Elizabeth’s used to make Hurka and Kolbasz (Hungarian sausage) once a month. You could not get any finer.
It isn’t big business. We don’t care. What do you have, maybe 4 bake sales per year? Hardly going to hurt the average grocery store. And you’re right, you do buy the ingredients from us.
I own a grocery store and am inspected by USDA twice a year (used to be four times). I am not allowed to sell anything that is not cut or made in the store.
Every hunting/holiday season, people come in asking me to butcher a carcass or slice the country ham they received as a gift. I can’t do it. USDA will shut me down.
I made and canned my own pasta sauces and sold them by the quart out of my deli. USDA shut that down because the jars did not have an ingredients list and was not inspected and approved by the state lab (in my case, UVA Medical Center). I have to send a sample along with all the ingredients and their source (where I got them from), plus pay them a large fee for approval. Wasn’t worth the hassle then but I’m thinking about doing it again.
You folks (church groups, hunt clubs, civic orgs, etc.) can do it because all you need is on one-time, local permit. No feds involved.
I entered the local Chili Cookoff a few years ago. The event had a local permit and the local Health Inspector looked at everyone’s setup. I was allowed to sell the stuff at the event but forbidden to take it back to the store and can it because I was a retailer and under USDA regs.
Sheesh, I spend as much time trying to keep up with all the federal, state, and local food laws as I do actually selling the stuff.
P.S. Send me a pie. Nothing better than home-made!!!