AB626 Legalizing Home Cooking

Join us on Wednesday, June 30th from 7 – 8:30 pm for presentations and lively discussion on adopting AB626 in Santa Cruz County. The meeting will be held both in person at the Live Oak Grange and also via Zoom. If you ever wanted to legally cook and sell meals from your home… this is the event for you!

Bill AB626 allows permitted cooks to legally sell food prepared the same day out of their homes. The bill was passed by the California Senate in 2018 and enacted into law on Jan. 1st 2019. It is up to each county in the State if they adopt the bill or not. The progress has been slow due to the pandemic, but is starting to gain momentum as more counties continue to opt in. So far there are 8 counties and the city of Berkeley that have opted in across California.

This meeting is meant to educate the public on what the bill entails and what sort of needs it would require to get it enacted in our county. We will be discussing public health guidelines and how the bill differs from the current Cottage Food Law and catering requirements.

Peter Ruddock who is the Policy Director for The Cook Alliance & AB626 will be discussing the progress the bill is making & how other counties are developing legal Microenterprise Home Cooking Operations, known as MEHKO’s. Having a flexible local food system is critical as our populations increase and more people realize the need for healthy regional food systems that serve the needs of the communities they support.

AB626 would provide opportunities for permitted home cooks to serve food to their neighbors & community without the risk of breaking the law.

Click on the link below for an AB626 overview and for answers to frequently asked questions.

https://www.cookalliance.org/resources#county-resources

NOTE – All donations go towards the Grange pandemic recovery fund.