11 yr olds cupcake "business" shut down by local government agency....
 

http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/01/29/...upcake-seller/

Just saw this posted on my Facebook feed....this story (and the other one about the school taking lunches away) are totally insane!!

The saddest fact, regardless on how one stands on this issue is that people are found these things to other people!! Like any news report it's sad to see that there are those people out there who seem to have no moral guidance whatsoever!!

So much for trying to chase your dreams!! I guess this country IS going downhill....

I am so confused by what point you're trying to make.

Regardless, I don't think this is a crazy story. A sixth grader baking and selling cupcakes occasionally shouldn't be an issue, but if she's trying to do this on an ongoing basis, then there are all kinds of issues (particularly health codes) that need to be addressed.

If it goes beyond lemonade stand at the end of the driveway or school bake sale, it should be treated like a real business. It is FOOD, after all. And $200 a month to me says real business.

Huh?

This kid is trying to run a business, not just set up a cupcake stand. Applicable law requires a seperate kitchen (as it does almost everywhere in this country). And I'm betting the applicable law also defines the difference between businesses and a kid's cookie or cupcake stand.

The mom said:

So yes, the mom is looking for special consideration for her daughter, consideration that says the law doesn't apply to her.

If this kid has adult dreams and wants to chase them, she needs to accept the adult responsibility that comes with the chase.

I am glad I am not the only one who found the post incoherent in part and unsustainable in others. OP, in addition to the points already made, this matter does not involve a moral issue. It is a legal matter.

I have a friend who lives in a very small town and a few weeks ago, when lots of folks were snow bound, she started cooking. She's a fantastic cook and loves to cook for people. She always makes enough to feed an army. So she called a neighbor and told her she had lots of extra and did she want some. The neighbor gave her money to cover the cost of the food. The next day, she did the same with another neighbor. She ended up feeding a different family each day that week because they were snowed in the whole week (she's a teacher and had snow days). She got a letter from the health department that she had to stop. She was sad. They suggested she open a restaurant. She was like "I just want to cook for people, I don't want a business."

I see both sides of it. But, where do you draw the line? What about bake sales? Those happen all the time. I'm not familiar with the law so I don't know when it becomes a problem. Then again, I've had co-workers refuse to participate in pot lucks at work because they don't know what kind of shape other people's kitchens are in!

I don't know if it was a campus rule or a sorority rule, but we weren't permitted to hold bake sales while in college. I can completely understand why. We never questioned it. It would potentially create so many liability issues.

The rule here (not sure if it's state-specific or county-specific) is that if food is offered for free or "by donation" then it isn't regulated as a restaurant and no health permit is needed. If you are selling for a set price, it is considered a restaurant. That's how student orgs could hold bake sales, etc on my campus.

i can see how there might be a gray area, but what I note in the case in the OP is what I quoted—that the mother was willing to get the necessary licenses and permits for a business. That says that in that case, everyone understood the the kid was trying to run a business, not just have an occasional cupcake stand. The fact that her grandparents had bought her a refrigerator indicates the same thing. So, if you're trying to run a business, you've got to do it properly and comply with all laws and regulations.

I see this as completely apples to car tires. But I would really like to know who narced on her about this tremendous generosity.

Several years ago one of my sisters broke her leg in 3 places (slipping on the ice) and was basically bedridden for a couple months WITH 2 little kids. A friend of hers, without asking permission, got a group of her friends together to schedule who would bring them food 3 times a week and who would pick up and drop off the kids at all their typical American kid activities day after day after day. They did it continually. I suppose my sister could have narced on them for providing limo service without a license.

It's a very small town and I'm sure people were just talking "M**** cooked for us last night and the Smiths the night before and she's such a good cook... well yeah, we paid her for the food" and it just got around. She wasn't making money on it, but was receiving money. I'm sure if she just gave it away they couldn't say much. I think the difference is in whether you're accepting money or not. We've done similar things for families with a member who has cancer- make meals, help with transporting kids- but it was all donations.

Truthfully, if the lady in my story had unlimited funds, she would cook for the whole world every day. She loves to cook and loves to see people enjoying her food. It's part of her identity really.

There are MILLIONS of illegals doing business in the USA and the goverment does nothing. The illegals do more than $200 a month.

We need cupcake reform.

Yeah, something tells me that the local health inspector isn't really in the position to do much about deporting undocumented aliens.

Nice try, though, Max.

Bump

When we do potlucks at work, I’m always the one who signs up to bring plates, napkins, sodas, cups, etc. I would be so embarrassed if I brought in homemade food and someone found cat hair in it or something (I have 4 cats).

That's what I was going to say. :)

Dee, that's terrible about your friend. She sounds so kind! I wonder what would have happened if she had kept cooking and just refused when people offered her money.

Fail. ARe you flipping on your applicable law requirements? YOUR main point was the kid was running a business and applicable law. There are MANY agencies that regulate business. Illegals do billions worth of illegal business. Do you think there are any applicalbe law issues that apply?

Where do the people operating hot dog carts go to the bathroom and wash their hands?

In bathrooms.

Most cities create criteria for all of this stuff prior to allowing hot dog carts to exist.

So what exactly are you trying to say?

That because illegals, there should be no enforcement of a health code and other laws?

The point is there are bigger fish to fry.

Her first point was the kid was running a business. I say go after the bigger business with many times the violations. Her next excuse is the kid is in the food service business and my point is go after the food vendors doing MILLIONS of dollars in business. Have you ever seen the back of a busy restaurant, slaughter house or the inside of a food processing plant?


YOu are worried about a kid selling cupcakes to a few family friends.
What is your point? Are you saving the world by eliminate $200 worth of illegal cupcakes that are probably healthier than most of the slop you eat at a restaurant?

Keep dreaming. They create the criteria yet rarely enforce it. The food truck operators are probably going in a bucket under the counter. The hot dog carts guys are probably going in an alley. If YOU are lucky they use a real bathroom and MIGHT wash their hands. Even if they do wash their hands they still handle tons of cash(which is very dirty) and do NOT wash their hands after handling the cash.

The health dept is too busy busting kids lemonade stands and cupcake stands doing $200 a month to check on the hot dog carts.

You can find tons of videos on line.


I like this video. A vendor at a Houston Astros game goes to the toilet to take a deuce and he puts the food on the floor in the stall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyCpTHBqqtA

How do you know there are bigger or other fish to fry? How do you know the government in this municipality isn't already doing everything it can to make sure everyone complies with the health code?

DID YOU KNOW - there are multiple law enforcement agencies which take care of different aspects of the law. Mind blowing, I know, but health departments take care of health department regulations, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) takes care of immigration law.

Whew - I'm sure you're relieved to know that you don't have to count on health departments to enforce any thing other than health department regulations and law.

Given your ability to spot illegal immigrants merely by their appearance at a "restaurant, slaughter house or the inside of a food processing plant", tuco, I'd think you could carve out a great career for yourself with the ICE.

Sure—the main one being that only the federal government has the power to deport. State and local governments, including health inspection agencies, do not have that power. What the local health inspector did here is irrelevant to questions of what the federal government is or isn't doing about undocumented aliens.

The OP's and Tuco's lack of basic understanding of law and government is sad.

California politicans must not understand government either.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/institut...al-businesses/

They understand government quite well. It is you who is confused.

Federal, state, and local government are not without challenge and change. People simply have to take the correct measures. If Illinois wants to make the necessary formal changes, there will be guidelines and regulations to allow some people to sell food in certain settings.

The California legislature passed a law allowing for cottage food industries, Illinois does not have such a statute. What is your point?

I hope you receive a knowledgable and informed response. : )

29 states don't understand government.

http://cottagefoodlaws.com/get-invol...-law-movement/

Apparently you are the one who doesn't understand government. 29 states have cottage food laws, Illinois does not. One has nothing to do with the other.

The Cupcake Kid will get to continue her business. A local plumbing and remodeling company, with the help of donations, is building her a kitchen to run her business.

http://www.bnd.com/2014/02/27/308131...t-her-new.html

Yay. That is a good ending.

Now that this has had national attention, I hope she realizes the IRS is going to want their share of the business too...

My guess is that this was the original impetus of the health dept stepping in, in the first place. They saw that someone hadn't paid their $$ to the govt so they stepped in.

There are I'm sure hundreds of kids and people who are doing the same thing all over the country and making sometimes a little money but once it's known to the govt they want their share of any profits.....

That's right. The health department stepped in because tax laws were being violated. :rolleyes:

As for the bolded, this 11-year-old isn't running the occasional weekend lemonade stand. She is trying to run a real business. That's great, as long as she does it right—and doing it right means complying with all relevant laws and regulations, especially those designed to protect the public. Seems to me like a great lesson to learn at an early age.

No, BadgeGuy, just no. The Health Department has a different agenda than federal tax authoritieis. The local Health Department is concerned with sanitation (you know, rodents, cockroaches, running water). Tax-compliant establishments are sometimes shut -- not because of taxes -- but because the food or food surfaces will make people sick. Remember from civics also that there is yet another layer of government between local authorities and the feds -- the state (except sadly for DC).

And getting permits, which cost money...money the health dept wasn't getting before. I wasn't suggesting the Heath dept was acting on tax issues, but someone selling product, apparently even if it is just to friends and family, permits need to be purchased....they aren't free.....