New Jersey is no longer the LAST STATE in America to ban the sale of home baked goods, Save Jerseyans. That’s the good news.
On Monday, the state’s Department of Health published new rules permitting Garden State home bakers and confectioners, too, to apply for “cottage food” business permits. from their very own kitchens. Until now, you needed to operate a “commerical kitchen.” Going forward, you can obtain a two-year permit which will cost you $100 a pop because we all know Trenton needs to get its take, right?
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Our friend Erica Jedynak of Morris Couny was instrumental in keeping the movement to legalize home baked goods alive over the PAST TEN YEARS. A decade, folks!
She took a well-deserved victory lap on Twitter after the rules were issued:
It's official. New Jerseyans can now bake at home and sell their cakes, cookies, and muffins. I worked on this reform from 2011-present in different roles – but many of these activists have been fighting a lot longer. pic.twitter.com/96JEbG6Rff
— Erica Jedynak (@EricaJedynak) October 5, 2021
Besides the Senate, special interest associations wanted their piece of the pie in licensing and inspection fees. During hearings, they would lie about listeria outbreaks to make their case.
— Erica Jedynak (@EricaJedynak) October 5, 2021
Shout out to @brookefallon who has long been my partner during her time at @IJ + mine at @AFP_NewJersey. And all the strong women we've work with who told their personal stories about why being an entrepreneur has transformed their lives. No business should be discounted.
— Erica Jedynak (@EricaJedynak) October 5, 2021
The bad news? Besides the permit fee?
It took TEN YEARS for New Jersey to acknowledge the right of home bakers – many of whom are moms trying to make an extra buck for their families – to profit from the delicious fruits of their labor. New Jersey hair braiders faced a similar battle (over licensing, specifically) a few years back. The Left loves to talk a good game about “human rights” when it suits their radical social agenda, but how about the basic human right to ply one’s own talents, earn a living, and survive in the nation’s most expensive state?
After all, despite all of the dire safety warnings from special interests concernign the consequences of loosening regulations, when is the last time you heard of someone being poisoned by a bundt cake? Exactly.
Also consider how driver’s licenses for illegal aliens, legal recreational pot, and a whole host of other vastly more controversial stuff preceded this supremely common sense move. Until yesterday, a homemade pot brownie could land you in less trouble than selling an apple pie at a church bazaar.
Our state’s political priorities remain hopelessly f—ed up, Save Jerseyans. That’s my point. There’s nothing “free” about New Jersey in 2021 because the people who run New Jersey’s state government think we work for them and not the other way around.
So yes, by all means, celebrate the fact that we’ve reclaimed a little freedom which it was never Trenton’s right to curb in the first place.
The fundamental problem remains, and it won’t be resolved until we start collectively making better decisions at the ballot box.
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