County opens applications for commercial home kitchens
The New Year is bringing a new development to the food service industry of Santa Cruz County. Residents will now be able to operate a small restaurant from the comfort of their home.
In September, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved a 2-year pilot program for “Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations” (abbreviated as MEHKO) to start Jan. 1. The county says the goal of the program is to expand access to diverse, locally prepared food.
The home kitchens require a health permit approved by the county, which will begin accepting applications this Wednesday. The application is a two-step process, first with a home evaluation, followed by a health permit. The service is limited to operations with no more than 30 meals a day and 90 meals a week, and $100,000 in gross annual sales.
The local program is a part of a statewide initiative, thanks to legislation authored by outgoing Southern California Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, that went into effect in January 2019. Despite being authorized by state law, the kitchens still required health permits to be issued by counties or cities.
COOK Alliance— a nonprofit focused on legitimizing and supporting informal home cooking businesses — is offering training courses for 500 participants from cities statewide in which MEHKOs are legal. The eight-week program will help participants run their own MEHKOs, and graduates of the program will receive a grant of $3,000 to help them run their businesses.
Source: LookOut Santa Cruz
