What regulations apply to farmers markets?

Answer 1

State and local laws will determine how much "red tape" burdens an organized or informal farmers' market. A farmers' market is regulated as a collection of member businesses engaged in packaging and selling food. There are potential issues in non-profit corporate law (not to mention tax and insurance), landlord and tenant rules for renting space, temporary building permits for tents and electrical connections, weights and measures for consumer protection, health code for food preparation and display, packaging and labeling regulations, advertising and trademark limits, and whether vendors can or must collect sales taxes or meals taxes, as applicable. Within the corporation (or association or partnership) there are also interesting administrative issues of setting membership fees, electing officers and delegating duties, policies and procedures, allocating priority on selected vendor spaces, private or public fund-raising, distribution of profits, choosing or rejecting additional participants fairly, oversight of the "web page", and various contracts for supplies and services.