We started with a folding table, a pop-up tent, and a dream — to bring real food back to our community.

Just 9 months ago, our little cottage bakery — Crafted Coastal — was nothing more than a weekend passion project. We baked eight loaves of sourdough from our home kitchen, carried them out to the driveway, and watched in awe as neighbors lined up to buy fresh, nourishing bread made with organic flour and clean ingredients.

From that tiny beginning, we built the Bread Shed — a hand-made farm stand on our property where we now sell dozens of loaves, cinnamon rolls, cookies, pizza dough, sandwich loaves, and more every weekend. Over 1,000 loaves of sourdough have made their way into the homes (and bellies) of Encinitas families — along with smiles, conversations, and a renewed connection to where food comes from.

We're not a faceless corporation or a trendy food chain. We’re a husband and wife, a military veteran and spouse with a passion for health, community, and purpose. We’re also parents raising two young boys — and this home-based business has allowed us to work with our hands, live with intention, and teach our sons the value of entrepreneurship, responsibility, and serving others.

But now, all of that is under threat.

The City of Encinitas currently prohibits cottage food businesses from operating a farm stand model, even when fully licensed by the state of California. Instead, the city requires small food producers to rent brick-and-mortar commercial space — an unrealistic burden for most family-run startups given the skyrocketing cost of rent in our town.

This means local food entrepreneurs like us are being forced to shut down or break the law just to continue doing what we love — feeding our neighbors wholesome food at fair prices.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Cottage food law in California was designed to empower micro-entrepreneurs, allowing them to operate safely and legally from their home kitchens under strict health and labeling guidelines. We carry all the required permits, maintain top-tier cleanliness standards, and have become a trusted source of healthy food in our community. But because Encinitas hasn't updated its zoning rules to support these state-licensed operations, we're left in the dark.

Meanwhile, our community suffers.

Instead of more local, nutritious, handmade foods, Encinitas families are left with mass-produced options or overpriced boutique stores. Instead of enabling small, sustainable businesses, our city is enforcing outdated policies that favor big retail and deep-pocketed developers.

We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking for the freedom to feed our community, legally and lovingly, the way we’ve already been doing.

Let’s bring back the farm stand. Let’s support working families, micro-businesses, and local food. Let’s show our children what it means to build something from scratch — and give back to your neighbors while you do it.

Please sign this petition urging the City of Encinitas to revise its local ordinances to allow cottage food producers to operate legal farm stands from their homes, in alignment with state regulations. With your support, we can make sure the next generation of makers, bakers, and dreamers has a fighting chance.

From our kitchen to your table — thank you.

– Kevin & Kristen, founders of Crafted Coastal Bakery