Allow us to hold a Food Swap in a public location!

Allow a 'Food Swap' to be held once a month as a local, community event

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Nevada County Department of Environmental Health.

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Allow a 'Food Swap' to be held once a month as a local, community event

On Oct 30th, the community of Truckee, CA tried to hold a 'food swap' at a local winery. Since the food swap was advertised as a public event in a public venue any food served has to come from a regulated kitchen according to California health and safety code. The Nevada County Dept of Environmental Health issued a warning to the winery and said they could be held liable, so the swap was cancelled.

We are petitioning to allow a food swap to be held in a public location as a FREE community event; free from any association with CA Food Retail Code and exempt from retail or commerce law. We ask that the terms and concepts of "swap" and "share" not be associated with the terms and concepts of "retail", "commerce", or "trade".

This type of event is not only harmless, it's a communal event that promotes ties between neighbors, community members, and local sourcing of food. It's a waste of tax dollars to regulate food activity at this level, and doing so is specifically stripping away the rights people should inherently have to make their own choices. We believe a food swap is an inherently free community event that should not be regulated by the California Retail Code. It is our right to share or swap with other community members without government regulation.

As residents of this community we reserve the right to share in such forums as food swaps, potlucks, or dinner parties and believe that the freedom to share homemade goods is a free right that should not be subject to government regulation. Whether it be store bought, from a restaurant, or from our neighbor's home kitchen, the food we choose to consume is at our discretion. It is an innate right to consume regulated or unregulated food of our choosing.

The Government is supposed to be in service to the community, not the other way around. The most important resource is people. Please listen to the people. Events such as food swaps should be encouraged not regulated. Please take action to amend county regulations. Please make it easier for residents to participate in food sharing events.

What is a food swap?
A food swap is an event where people can get together to trade homemade, homegrown and foraged creations. Swappers prepare their food, and come to the swap to meet with other participants and their items. These items are the 'currency' used to swap with other participants. After learning about the ingredients, the preparation, and sometimes tasting samples, swappers can decide if and how much they'd like to trade. It allows people the right to choose and no actual money ever trades hands.

In communal sense, people get to meet new friends and neighbors over food. Swappers leave with items that stock their pantry with natural, homemade treats - all of which they selected themselves and were made with care.

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Sincerely,

[Your name]