Are you curious about what can be sold at the farmers market in Williamson County? The Agricultural Markets Rules, TAC 25, §229, 701-704 provide the regulations for food sold at the market. All food must come from an approved source and no food or homemade food that is potentially hazardous can be sold. Examples of allowed items include non-refrigerated baked goods, jams, jellies, preserves, candies and spices, and dried fruits and vegetables. Prohibited foods include any food that requires refrigeration, pickles, foods containing meat or poultry, and sauces. The local health department or department can issue a permit to a farmer or food producer to sell food at a farmers market.
Additionally, a farmers market may include vendors who are not farmers or food producers, provided that farmers and food producers make up the majority of the vendors that participate in the market throughout the year. Tennessee comfort food must be labeled with the name of the food, the name and address of the comfort food producer, the amount of food in the package in imperial and metric units (both in grams and ounces), the ingredients in order of importance by weight and lot number, or the date to be able to track the food in the event of a problem that requires its recall. A farmer's market must include at least two vendors that meet the definition of a farmer as defined in the paragraph (of this section) and may include vendors that meet the definition of a food producer as defined in the paragraph (of this section). If the food vendor participates in an “authentic” cooking demonstration, the farmers market must have a certified food manager. Furthermore, Senate Bill 617 (87th Legislature, 202) introduced several important changes to Chapter 437 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, which is the underlying statute for retail food safety, to include Texas farm markets and comfort food. The Williamson County and Cities Health District (WCCHD) requires certain food vendors who participate in agricultural markets to obtain a food market establishment permit.
