Labeling swappables
Recently while preparing one of last month's swapped items, I had a question about preparation. I remembered who brought the item to the swap, but I didn't have a contact number. Bummer. This lead to another thought. We should require labeling on all swapped items. Really. If not for anything else but to CYA. When I was on the farm, one of the value-added items I made and sold was homemade noodles. I was able to sell home produced items under the Ohio Department of Agriculture Cottage Industry food safety laws.
Many other states do not allow people to make food in their homes and sell it on the street. The Ohio Department of Agriculture allows a cottage food industry to thrive here in Ohio by having rules that permit a culture with no electricity or modern mechanization, to participate in active commerce here in Ohio. Because we have such a large population of Amish here, we all benefit from their influence and desire to contribute to the economy. Every small entrepreneur has a chance and a more competitive market is born.
Although Food City Swap is considered a private club, we have decided to require labeling of all foods with 1. ingredient list and 2. statement of responsibility which will include name and phone number or email. Since we are considered a private club, the cottage industry laws, as they stand now, do not apply. If food laws change in the future, and they probably will, we want to be one step ahead of the game by having our labeling in place.
Please label your products. If you don't have labels, you can use a business card taped to the package with ingredients on the back. Labels can be hand written or printed, decorative or not.
For more info on Ohio Cottage industry laws and labeling, check out the following links.
Cottage Food Label Examples
Criteria and definitions for cottage food operations
Many other states do not allow people to make food in their homes and sell it on the street. The Ohio Department of Agriculture allows a cottage food industry to thrive here in Ohio by having rules that permit a culture with no electricity or modern mechanization, to participate in active commerce here in Ohio. Because we have such a large population of Amish here, we all benefit from their influence and desire to contribute to the economy. Every small entrepreneur has a chance and a more competitive market is born.
Although Food City Swap is considered a private club, we have decided to require labeling of all foods with 1. ingredient list and 2. statement of responsibility which will include name and phone number or email. Since we are considered a private club, the cottage industry laws, as they stand now, do not apply. If food laws change in the future, and they probably will, we want to be one step ahead of the game by having our labeling in place.
Please label your products. If you don't have labels, you can use a business card taped to the package with ingredients on the back. Labels can be hand written or printed, decorative or not.
For more info on Ohio Cottage industry laws and labeling, check out the following links.
Cottage Food Label Examples
Criteria and definitions for cottage food operations
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