FROM FARM TO MARKET

Farmers Market Resources for Farmers

We connect farmers, gardeners, food entrepreneurs – and those who want to be – with resources.

Resources Page for Farmers Market Vendors

As a farmer and producer, we know you are tasked with many different areas of running a business. The purpose of this list is to assist farmers and producers through the process of taking your products from your farm to farmers market! 

Check out the links below based on the products you are looking to sell at farmers markets. These were assembled thanks to Donica Krebs, Old Forge Homestead, and Elizabethton Farmers Market manager.

Meat Sales

#1 – USDA processing is required for all hoofed mammals pork, beef, lamb, and goat to be sold by the pound. Farmers must select a USDA processor to take their live animals to; find one here:

https://cpa.tennessee.edu/livestock-processing-facilities-in-tennessee/ Alternatively, farmers can choose a USDA facility out of state; NC and VA Agriculture Departments have similar listings. The USDA does not regulate the raising of the animal, or the storage & sale of the meat; they only regulate the butchering process.

#2 – Farmers must then become retail certified to sell that USDA processed meat by the pound in the State of TN, regardless if they live in another state and have that state’s retail meat sale permit. The sale of meat by the pound is regulated by the TDA: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/agriculture/documents/foodsafety/2018/PB1829.pdf

 This involves an inspection of facilities and freezers where the meat is stored, and inspection of the coolers or freezers used to transport that meat to retail locations or a farmers market.

#3 – Custom butchering: Farmers can sell their animals ALIVE by the half or whole to a customer who then pays to have that animal processed at a TDA/Health Dept inspected facility. 

Find a list of TDA facilities here: https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/consumers/food-safety/ag-farms-food-manufacturing-and-warehousing/ag-businesses-custom-slaughter/tda-licensed-custom-slaughter-operations.html

  #4 – Domestic Poultry (chicken, duck, turkey, geese) has very little regulation for home-processing under 1,000 birds annually, and some minor regulations for farmers raising under 20,000 per year. See here for exemption details:

https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/consumers/food-safety/ag-businesses-eggs-and-poultry/poultry-processing.html

#5 – Rabbit meat is, oddly enough, regulated by the FDA and not the USDA/TDA.

The FDA also regulates what is called “non-amenable game meats” defined as: “antelope, bison, deer, elk, reindeer, muskrat, non-aquatic reptiles, opossum, rabbit, raccoon, squirrel, water buffalo, grouse, pheasant, quail, wild turkey, wild geese, and wild ducks.”

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/meat-fish/rabbit-farm-table#:~:text=When%20a%20rabbit%20processor%20does,is%20inspected%20under%20their%20laws. 

For the sake of ease, and since it’s a most local folks are looking to sell rabbit rather than non-amenable game meats, rabbit meat sales are addresses as follows:

The current FDA allowance is that rabbit can be sold if it is processed in a USDA facility, or under the same rules as line #3, Custom Butchering. From our partnering farmers’ experiences, the main complication here is that there is only one USDA processor within a 20 hour drive of East TN that will process rabbits, and processing cost is very expensive.

EGG SALES

https://foodscience.tennessee.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/A-Guide-for-Farm-to-Consumer-Egg-Sales-in-Tennessee.pdf

Raw (unpasteurized) dairy from a hoofed mammal can be sold 2 ways:

#1 – Herdshare protection laws: Click on “Summary”

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/Billinfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1123&ga=111

There is some gray area on whether or not solid milk products can be sold under a herdshare (i.e. cheese or butter), the TDA and USDA dont regulate it, this is technically a bill overseen by the Senate. It is the opinion of the TDA that herdshares only cover fluid milk, and processed milk products are not covered, but since the TDA nor any other entity in the state actually regulate herdshares, there is some room for interpretation. Both processed milk products and fluid milk can also be sold as pet food, next:

#2 – Raw dairy as pet food: Requires a TDA issued Commercial Feed Facility License – https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/businesses/inputs/forms.html 

This option requires lab testing, labeling, and a warning label that it is not intended for human consumption, and can not be sold or advertised as safe for humans.

Dairy Sales:  

Pasteurized USDA Grade A fluid milk dairy Grading Information: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grading/request-service

PRODUCE & PLANTS

Produce sales: (veggies, fruits, berries, mushrooms, herbs etc.)

Generally, there are no guidelines for produce sales other than that the products cannot be processed further than to be cut off the plant stalk (i.e. no shelled peas, shucked corn, pre-chopped salad, etc.)  Safety education and programs:

https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/consumers/food-safety/ag-consumers-produce-safety.html https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/auditing/gap-ghp

Live Plants:

All live plants must be grown in a TDA inspected greenhouse or nursery. https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/businesses/plants/forms.html

value-added & prepared foods

Value-added or skin care products

(soap, lotions, skin scrubs, chapstick, etc.) Some products are regulated by the FDA, and some are regulated by the CPSC. For example, cosmetics are regulated by the FDA (i.e. homemade perfume or sunscreen) but homemade oil-based soaps are regulated by the CPSC. Here are the 2 lists to help producers find out what their product is regulated under:

https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-labeling-regulations/summary-cosmetics-labeling-requirements https://www.cpsc.gov/Business–Manufacturing/Regulatory-Robot/Safer-Products-Start-Here

Baked goods and most canned foods (properly canned jams, pickles, low acid and high acid foods), dried foods, are “TCS” (Time & Temperature Control Safe) and now able to be sold under cottage food laws to consumers without requiring a food manufacturing license or inspection from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, but they must be labelled and there are some exceptions.

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/agriculture/documents/foodsafety/2019/domestic_kitchen_update.pdf