The COOK Alliance is the nonprofit legalizing the sale of home cooked meals.
Our landmark policies legitimize the existing informal food economy with permits for small home restaurants known as:
Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs)
Vision
We envision a world in which home-based culinary entrepreneurs, particularly from historically underserved communities, have meaningful, low-barrier opportunities to earn dignified, livable incomes through their small businesses and expand access to fresh meals and deeper, resilient community connection.
Mission
We are working to legalize home cooking businesses and empower culinary entrepreneurs to be fully informed, define their own success, and enrich their communities. We are committed to ensuring these opportunities are accessible to all, particularly underserved women, immigrants, and people of color.
Welcome, MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME
We’re the COOK Alliance: a coalition of immigrants, stay at home parents, community builders, educators, activists, policy makers, entrepreneurs, and home cooks.
We’ve been working to advocate for the recognition of home cooking as dignified and socially invaluable work since 2014. We’ve legalized the sale of home cooked food by passing two California laws and have helped thousands of cooks make money serving their neighbors by building a community for entrepreneurial home cooks.
More than who we are, or what we’ve done, is what we represent: A plate kept warm, a “Dinner’s ready!” shouted up the stairs, a last bite offered up lovingly. We represent the people and the moments of care, where we feel less lonely and more connected in this life.
Our Work
Policy Leadership
We translate labor and social justice interests into equitable legislation at all levels of government, creating hard power and safeguards for home cooks.
cook advocacy & Support
We organize the collective voice of home cooks to advocate for their best interests and help them become savvier & more empowered entrepreneurs.
Our People:
The Entrepreneur
Legalizing home cooking lowers barrier to entry for food entrepreneurship and decriminalizes previously informal businesses.
The At Home Parent
Home cooking gives parents an accessible income opportunity that meets them where they are, works around their schedule, & lets them prioritize family values.
The Community Pillar
Home cooking mitigates gentrification pressure by helping established local residents earn income while offering new neighbors warm food & welcome.
The Newcomer
Home cooking provides immigrant security & decolonizes food trends, letting people be the faces & benefactors of their own cultures.
Home cooking doesn’t just provide healthier food access and strengthen community fabric.
It helps us remember that we’re all in this together.
Home cooking reminds us that the everyday burdens, big & small, don't need to be shouldered alone.
We believe that in moments of uncertainty or loneliness, it’s important to know that somewhere nearby, there’s a seat at a table, in a warmly lit kitchen, filled with the smells of home cooked food.