Legalize Home Cooking in Washington!

Washington State Legislature

Support economic opportunity for all by legalizing home cooking in Washington!

Home cooking is essential to our communities - but today, Washington state has some of the most restrictive laws for home-based food businesses in the entire nation.

We Want to Legalize Home Cooking:

Ventures wants to change that. We believe that Washington should allow Microenterprise Home Kitchens based on the new law recently passed in California (Assembly Bill 626). This change would make our food system more inclusive for entrepreneurs that cannot afford the start-up costs of a food business.

For some, home cooking is a way to share and preserve their family heritage. For others, it can enable them to weather an economic downturn, avoid displacement, or start their first small business. It can also be a way to build and strengthen connections between neighbors.

In Washington State, selling most home-cooked food is illegal and many home cooks operate outside of the formal economy. Help us change that by telling our representatives to legalize home cooking in Washington!

About Ventures:

Ventures is a Seattle-based nonprofit that empowers aspiring entrepreneurs with limited resources and unlimited potential. They provide access to business training, capital, coaching, and hands-on learning opportunities for entrepreneurs, especially those for whom traditional business development services are out of reach. This campaign is a product of our advocacy program for micro-entrepreneurs through a partnership with the COOK Alliance.

Additionally, this campaign has been endorsed by:

- OneAmerica

- Business Impact NW

- Craft3

- Washington Budget and Policy Center

- Statewide Poverty Action Network

- Rainier Valley Community Development Fund

- Casa Latina

- Kitsap Community Resources

- Food Innovation Network

- Social Justice Fund NW

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¡Promovamos oportunidades de desarrollo económico para todos y apoyemos la campaña para legalizar cocinas caseras en El Estado de Washington!

La cocina casera es esencial para nuestras comunidades, y hoy en día El Estado de Washington tiene las leyes más estrictas de toda la nación en negocios de preparación de alimentos basados en el hogar. Ventures quiere cambiar eso.

Nuestra recomendación es que El Estado de Washington debe permitir que las microempresas utilicen cocinas caseras cómo en el modelo creado recientemente en California con la Ley 626. Este cambio crearía un sistema más inclusivo para los empresarios que no pueden pagar los gastos iniciales de una cocina comercial y otros gastos para la creación de un negocio de alimentos.

Para algunos en nuestra comunidad, la cocina casera es una forma de compartir y preservar su cultura. Para otros, puede permitirles superar una recesión económica, evitar el desplazamiento o iniciar su primer negocio. También puede ser una forma de construir y fortalecer las conexiones entre vecinos.

En El Estado de Washington la venta de alimentos preparados en el hogar está prohibido y muchos comerciantes operan fuera de la economía formal. ¡Ayúdenos a hacer un cambio solicitando a nuestros gobernantes que legalicen la cocina casera en El Estado de Washington!

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To: Washington State Legislature
From: [Your Name]

Home cooking is essential to our economy, our culture, and our communities.

For some, it is a way to share and preserve their family heritage. For others, it can enable them to weather an economic downturn, avoid displacement, or start their first small business. It can also be a way to build and strengthen connections between neighbors and community members.

In Washington State, unfortunately, selling most home-cooked food is illegal and many home cooks operate outside of the formal economy.

We believe that the state legislature can and should act to bring home cooking into the formal economy and create opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs (many of whom are women, immigrants, and people of color) who do not have access to the capital or connections needed to start a restaurant.

To our representatives in the Washington State legislature: we ask that you act to pass legislation that will increase access to entrepreneurship and empower home cooks in our communities!