Jam and Bread
Doe, a deer, a female deer.
Re, a drop of golden sun.
Mi, a name, I call myself.
Fa, a long, long way to run.
So, a needle pulling thread.
La, a note to follow so.
Ti, a drink with jam and bread…
For a long time I have wanted to take my passion for food preservation and baking and do something more with it; more than inundating my little family with desserts. As delicious as homemade preserves are there is only so much pickle relish and raspberry jam a family of five can eat. Last spring we were singing one of our endless rounds of “Do Re Mi” and the line about “jam and bread” kept running through my head. And so Jam and Bread was born.
In uncharacteristic fashion, I didn’t start Jam and Bread with every detail well thought out, I didn’t have a business plan. I simply had a passion and a simple maxim that the jam and bread that I sold needed to be profitable and pay me at least minimum wage for my time. In my very limited “free” time over the past few months I have managed to do just that. I’ve sold a couple of hundred jars of preserves, dozens of loaves of bread, and even started to get orders for made-to-order special occasion baked goods. Now I am ready to expand. I have visions of a “bread CSA” wherein customers would sign up to pay a fixed amount for a weekly delivery of seasonally based breads. I have had two retail outlets express interest in carrying my jams and there is the possibility of selling at a weekly farmers market as well. But such expansion depends on the passage of a new California law,AB1616, The California Homemade Food Act. You see, right now, I am selling my jam and bread on the black market. In California all food for sale must, by law, be produced in a commercial kitchen. Even school and church bake sales are illegal! AB1616 aims to change that; permitting limited sales of home produced canned and baked goods. AB1616 should land on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk late this month. Below is the letter that I sent Governor Brown today to urge him to sign AB1616.
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Governor Brown,
I am writing to urge you to sign AB1616, The California Homemade Food Act. I currently own and operate a small home-based business, “Jam and Bread”, selling organic preserves and baked goods. Because California currently lacks a “cottage food law” such as AB1616 I am forced to operate the business outside of a legal framework.
In order to operate as a licensed business, paying taxes and hiring employees, I would need to produce all of my food products in a commercial kitchen; an option that is simply cost-probative for a very small, part-time business. Not only does the lack of a cottage food law such as AB1616 force me to operate on the black market, but its absence has significantly hindered the expansion of my business. Over the past six months a number of my customers who own local retail outlets, have asked if they might be able to sell Jam and Bread’s preserves at their stores. In addition, a local farmers market has offered a space for Jam and Bread to sell my preserves and baked goods. While I would love to accommodate their requests, such sales would currently be illegal, and thus I cannot expand my business – even with willing customers.
The passage of AB1616 benefits not only the small entrepreneurs of California, but also California farmers – from whom we source raw ingredients, our neighbors – who gain access to local, healthy affordable food, and indeed all California citizens – through the generation of jobs and tax revenues. AB1616 is patterned after “cottage food laws” enacted in other states. AB1616 would only permit the sale of low-risk foods (such as jams and baked goods). Similar laws enacted in more than 30 states have not resulted in a single case of food-borne illness.
In today’s climate of economic insecurity small food based businesses can help to keep a family afloat and keep a community food secure. On behalf of the 400 members of the Los Angeles Bread Bakers and the thousands of home bakers across California, I strongly urge you to sign AB1616, The California Homemade Food Act. And if you’re ever in Pasadena I would be happy to present you with a legally produced loaf of organic bread and jar of jam.
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And if any of you lovely blog readers would like to support Jam and Bread please consider sending Governor Brown a letter yourself. I’ll owe you a cupcake!
August 21st, 2012 at 6:26 am
Gina: will do. Will send off a letter today to the gov. Being he may still be an old hippe he should understand and sign the bill. Mom and I were on Southwest From Vegas last month and he was on the plane from Vegas to Sacramento with the rest of us. no assigned seating.
August 22nd, 2012 at 4:58 pm
I don’t know where you find the time to do this but you go girl! Letter will be sent.
August 24th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Being that he is an old hippie, you should send along some Magic Brownies and some homemade doggie treats (I have a recipe) to sweeten the deal.
What a sport for sitting in general seating on Southwest. I know people who are above that and have far less to keep track of.
August 26th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
I stumbled across your blog following links…now I’m several degrees removed from Root Simple, I think. Anyway –we have a similar law in place where I live. My husband, who is a health inspector (and in favor of the law; he’s seen some truly nauseating home set-ups), points out that many churches and community halls have commercial kitchens sitting idle a lot of the time. Perhaps a way to stay on the right side of the law might be to look into renting such a space.
Love your idea of a bread CSA!