PADUCAH, KY (WPSD/CNN) - In Kentucky, it's illegal for most people to bake a cake and sell it to someone else. It’s called the cottage food law, but now there's a movement to decriminalize baked goods.
It’s has been called a passion for baking cakes. When Jennifer Lopez was a single mom living in Missouri, selling homemade goods was her income.
"That gave me a way to pay for food, gas and take care of my children,” Lopez said. Then Lopez moved to Kentucky where her business is considered illegal because she's not a farmer and she doesn't have a separate kitchen.
Now, she's getting the word out about a petition to update the law. "Farmers are allowed to bake from their home kitchens, and we just want to broaden that so just your average home baker can also sell and bake from their house,” Lopez said.
One avid baker has some thoughts on the subject. "This is where the magic happens,” certified home baker Jennifer Luckey said from her second kitchen. Luckey turned a spare bedroom into a second kitchen in just one of many steps she took to become a certified home baker.
"I understand the health department's view on it. They want to make sure that what people are selling to the public is safe and it's not going to make them sick. But if there was a way to make it a little bit easier for the public, or for a home baker to get permitted, then yeah, I'm all for it. But the health department still needs to be involved,” Luckey said.
"We want to be a real business. We want the opportunity and we want to grow just like every other business. And we want rules established that we can follow,” Lopez said.
There's a website with more details on the law, and the steps to change it. Go to this website for more information.
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