HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Texas Says 'Pickles' Only Come From Cucumbers. So This Couple's Farm Went Out of Business.

Views: 983
The way Texas defines a "pickle" is absurd. And it's killing small farm-to-market businesses. Anita and Jim McHaney are suing to overturn "preposterous" regulations on cottage food production.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.

----------------

Anita and Jim McHaney are retirees who moved from Houston to the Texas countryside in 2013. Their plan was to live well and grow food on a 10-acre homestead, earning extra money selling produce at the local farmers market. They grew okra, carrots, kale, swiss chard, and beets. Lots and lots of beets.

"That soil out there is very sandy, and those beets just grew like mad," says Anita. "Now the obvious thing to do when you have more beets than you can sell, is to make pickled beets and can them."

And this is where the McHaney's ran into trouble.

Like most states, Texas has a so-called cottage food law that exempts certain items sold at farmers markets from the state's commercial food manufacturing regulations—foods like bread, produce, nuts, jams, popcorn, and, of course, pickles.

But what constitutes a "pickle," and who gets to decide? The McHaneys discovered that the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) taks the narrow view.

According to the DSHS, "A pickle is a cucumber preserved in vinegar, brine, or similar solution, only pickled cucumbers are allowed under the cottage food law. All other pickled vegetables are prohibited"

"The legislature didn't say that, the health department did," Anita explains.

So in order to sell their pickled beets at the farmers market, the McHaneys needed a commercial food manufacturers license, to build a commercial kitchen, submit their recipes to a government contractor at Texas A&M University, and register for a $700 food manufacturing class. However, the class is only offered once a year.

"We got right down to signing up for the class...even though people said 'you won't learn a damn thing in there,'" says Anita. "Then I saw that $700. I thought, you know, this is crazy. This is insanity."

The McHaney's neighbor, Virginia Cox, also grows and sells food at the local farmers market. she'd like to be able to pickle her leftover okra.

"I can make a whole lot more on it pickled because if it doesn't sell this week, I can take it back to the market next week," says Cox. "If it's fresh and it doesn't sell this week, it's not gonna sell next week."

Today, the McHaney's farm lies fallow. But they have decided to take the state of Texas court with the help of the Dallas law firm Drinker, Biddle & Reath, who took on the case pro-bono.

Their main argument is that the regulations on cottage food production are unreasonable and stifle their economic opportunities.

"People can't afford that stuff, it shuts them out," says Anita.

As precedent, the McHaney's case invokes the landmark 2015 decision by Justice Don Willett striking down occupational licensing for Texas eyebrow threaders.

They're challenging the health department's definition of pickles and subsequent regulation on the grounds that it impinges on their "constitutionally protected right to earn an honest living."

The Texas Department of State Health Services wouldn't comment on the pending lawsuit, but defended the agency's rule as reflecting "the most common" interpretation of the word "pickle."

"It forces you, if you want to do a pickled beet, to go a $700 class that has nothing to do with home canning," says Jim. "And now we've got hundreds and hundreds of occupations where you have to pay the government to do your job….

For now, the case is still pending and it's just entered the discovery phase, but the McHaney's are optimistic about its outcome.

"You know, we talk about pickling beets, but it's a lot, lot, bigger issue. It's about economic freedom," says Jim.

Video produced, shot, and edited by Mark McDaniel.

Brass Buttons by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Inessential by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Long and Low Cloud by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for Remy: Banana (Free Trade Camila Cabello Havana Parody)2:22
Remy: Banana (Free Trade Camila Cabello Havana Parody)
ReasonVids
820 views
Thumbnail for A Teachers' Strike in Paradise8:47
A Teachers' Strike in Paradise
ReasonVids
847 views
Thumbnail for Pranksters at the beach0:41
Pranksters at the beach
bestofupgoat
423 views
Thumbnail for Madam-Turned-Pol Kristin Davis: Can NY Stand a Gov Who's Convicted *Before* Taking Office?5:20
Madam-Turned-Pol Kristin Davis: Can NY Stand a Gov Who's Convicted *Before* Taking Office?
ReasonVids
726 views
Thumbnail for The Japanese find out that their traditional demons are based off of jews6:09
The Japanese find out that their traditional demons are based off of jews
bestofvoatxyz
5248 views
Thumbnail for Lindy: "No Knock Raid" - a song about the drug war's deadliest tactic.4:50
Lindy: "No Knock Raid" - a song about the drug war's deadliest tactic.
ReasonVids
932 views
Thumbnail for Libertarians Without Borders: An Interview with Tom Palmer about the Arab Spring9:15
Libertarians Without Borders: An Interview with Tom Palmer about the Arab Spring
ReasonVids
652 views
Thumbnail for Gary Johnson, Benghazi, and Free Speech: Reason's December Ish!3:36
Gary Johnson, Benghazi, and Free Speech: Reason's December Ish!
ReasonVids
885 views
Thumbnail for A Drug Raid Goes Viral: Radley Balko on the Missouri SWAT Raid9:43
A Drug Raid Goes Viral: Radley Balko on the Missouri SWAT Raid
ReasonVids
783 views
Thumbnail for Protesters Smoke Weed Outside of the White House1:05
Protesters Smoke Weed Outside of the White House
ReasonVids
889 views
Thumbnail for Primal scream station: Baby Murder Edition0:08
Primal scream station: Baby Murder Edition
bestofvoatxyz
650 views
Thumbnail for I take that as a "no" then...0:24
I take that as a "no" then...
bestofupgoat
183 views
Thumbnail for American Rental Trouble [DNSL]29:24
American Rental Trouble [DNSL]
AOUisgay
483 views
Thumbnail for Porkers of the Month for December 2010: Sens. Lisa Murkowski and James Inhofe!0:56
Porkers of the Month for December 2010: Sens. Lisa Murkowski and James Inhofe!
ReasonVids
915 views
Thumbnail for IRS Sends Out URGENT Notice to Millions of Americans | Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov8:54
IRS Sends Out URGENT Notice to Millions of Americans | Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov
invidious
433 views
Thumbnail for "Bob Dylan Is the Shakespeare for Our Time" -Penn Jillette3:13
"Bob Dylan Is the Shakespeare for Our Time" -Penn Jillette
ReasonVids
827 views
Thumbnail for Banning Bikini Baristas, Big Dogs, and Energy Drinks! (Nanny of the Month, March 2013)1:33
Banning Bikini Baristas, Big Dogs, and Energy Drinks! (Nanny of the Month, March 2013)
ReasonVids
836 views
Thumbnail for Female pilot prank (1963)1:24
Female pilot prank (1963)
bestofupgoat
97 views
Thumbnail for How to Grow A City in Honduras, Part II: Company Towns4:38
How to Grow A City in Honduras, Part II: Company Towns
ReasonVids
917 views
Thumbnail for Delhi Belly  🤢💩1:49
Delhi Belly 🤢💩
bestofupgoat
88 views
Thumbnail for Woman With a Car vs. Washington D.C.'s Taxi Cartel4:44
Woman With a Car vs. Washington D.C.'s Taxi Cartel
ReasonVids
1019 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian, reason magazine, reason.com, reason.tv, reasontv
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle