Effort to legalize home baked goods stuck on cutting board
Posted March 20, 2016 7:00 am
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Grace DeStefano has been fighting for the last seven years for her right to bake a cake.
DeStefano is among a group of home bakers who have been fighting since 2009 for New Jersey to catch up to almost every other state in having a cottage food law.
That would allow for them to join in a tradition that supporters say is as American as the apple pie they're now not legally allowed to sell.
New Jersey and Wisconsin are the only two states that effectively ban the sale of home-baked goods. Opponents cite public health concerns and unfair competition against established businesses.
State Sen. Joe Vitale says it's admirable that the home bakers want to do the right thing, but that there are public safety and health concerns.
In a Thursday, March 10, 2016, photo, baker Martha Rabello poses with coffee cookies she baked in the kitchen of Fanwood Presbyterian Church in Fanwood, N.J. Rabello rents space in the church's kitchen to bake her goods to sell, as a state law prohibits her from baking commercial goods in her home. A group of bakers have pushed for a bill that will allow them to bake at home and not in rented kitchen space. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The Associated Press
In a Thursday, March 10, 2016, photo, baker Martha Rabello poses with coffee cookies she baked in the kitchen of Fanwood Presbyterian Church in Fanwood, N.J. Rabello rents space in the church's kitchen to bake her goods to sell, as a state law prohibits her from baking commercial goods in her home. A group of bakers have pushed for a bill that will allow them to bake at home and not in rented kitchen space. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The Associated Press
In a Thursday, March 10, 2016, photo, baker Martha Rabello works on making coffee cookies in the kitchen of Fanwood Presbyterian Church in Fanwood, N.J. Rabello rents space in the church's kitchen to bake her goods to sell, as a state law prohibits her from baking commercial goods in her home. A group of bakers have pushed for a bill that will allow them to bake at home and not in rented kitchen space. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The Associated Press
In a Thursday, March 10, 2016, photo, baker Martha Rabello works on making coffee cookies in the kitchen of Fanwood Presbyterian Church in Fanwood, N.J. Rabello rents space in the church's kitchen to bake her goods to sell, as a state law prohibits her from baking commercial goods in her home. A group of bakers have pushed for a bill that will allow them to bake at home and not in rented kitchen space. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The Associated Press
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