Carson City, NV — Yesterday, Nevada took a significant step toward expanding economic opportunity and home food entrepreneurship with Governor Joe Lombardo’s signing of Assembly Bill 352. The legislation passed both the Assembly and Senate unanimously and will modernize Nevada’s homemade, or “cottage,” food laws, allowing more residents to earn an honest living from their own kitchens. 

“Selling homemade food is one of the easiest and safest ways for people to start a small business,” said Ellen Hamlett, Activism Associate at the Institute for Justice, which supported the bill. “With A.B. 352 now law, Nevada has opened the door for more families to support themselves, more communities to access locally made goods, and more entrepreneurs to turn great ideas into thriving businesses.” 

Championed by Assemblymember Anderson, A.B. 352 raises the outdated annual revenue cap from $35,000 to $100,000 and allows producers to take orders over the phone and online, with delivery permitted by mail or through third-party platforms. These reforms bring Nevada in line with best practices in other states and give home-based entrepreneurs the tools to grow and reach more customers, especially in rural and underserved communities. 

“This important legislation modernizes the cottage food, craft food, and farm-to-fork programs and removes outdated barriers that hinder small business owners’ ability to reach their markets effectively,” says Kelli Kelly, Agriculture and Food Systems Business Advisor at the Nevada Small Business Development Center. “Cottage business owners in Nevada now have a viable pathway to grow their operations from their home kitchens to commercial kitchens, and from farmers markets into retail markets.” 

For many Nevadans—especially women, caregivers, rural residents, and those with disabilities—cottage food businesses are the most accessible and flexible path to financial stability. These reforms are backed by national research showing that homemade foods are inherently safe and pose no greater risk than commercially prepared goods. 

This law reflects what is already working in dozens of other states—and, more importantly, what home food entrepreneurs have been asking for. 

The Institute for Justice has supported similar successful reforms in more than 25 states, and praises Nevada lawmakers and Governor Lombardo for their bipartisan commitment to promoting entrepreneurship. 

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To arrange interviews on this subject, journalists may contact Phillip Suderman, IJ’s Communications Project Manager, at [email protected] or (850) 376-4110. More information on the case is available at: https://ij.org/issues/economic-liberty/homemade-food/