Vendor Meeting Recap
We held our 2018 Vendor Meeting on 2/11/18 and here is a brief recap of what was discussed:
Kathy Zeman – Riverwalk Board Member Emeritus who has great ties to the MN food safety laws spoke to us all about upcoming rule changes seminars, and certifications needed for certain food vendors.
– Cottage Food – Eggs don’t need to be certified in order to be sold, but they can and/or should be.
– Produce Farmers – There are FSMA Training classes coming up soon in March and April around the state. The cost is $25/person and each produce vendor should really try and make these seminars. The closest seminar is on April 6 in Rochester and Kathy will be emailing me more information on getting signed up for these classes.
– In the future (no clear decision on when) produce farmers will need to strive to be really good at labeling their products, there is a concentration from the state to effectively label where every piece of produce sold comes from for health reasons.
– ANY vendor sampling food must have a hand washing station! If you are found to be sampling food with out a station you will be asked to pack up your tent and leave.
– As always it’s your responsibility to read through all of the state laws as far as selling food and making sure that everything is kept up to par.
– There is a MN Cottage Food producers group on Facebook and it can be used as a good asset for questions and recipes.
After Kathy there were some general questions from other artist vendors, brainstorming on how the board and past vendors can make the market better, and many other ideas.
This is a short summary of what was talked about at the meeting. As always if you have any questions or comments for Brian the Market Manager you can reach me by email at manager@riverwalkmarketfair.org or 507-301-8203 or if you have feedback for the board of Riverwalk Market Fair you can contact them at board@riverwalkmarketfair.org
