Advancing Advocacy
We champion the legitimization of home cooking businesses (Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations - MEHKOs), encourage regulations that promote healthy food access, provide education & resources for local organizations, and work with environmental health departments for effective MEHKO support.
MEHKO Advocacy Cohort Program
Calling all organizations! Join us in the California MEHKO Project as COOK Alliance and CAMEO seek community-based organization partners to champion the establishment of MEHKO programs in counties where they're not yet legal. We'll be your guides and trainers in an educational cohort, working together to craft effective MEHKO advocacy initiatives.
As cohort members, each organization will receive $5,000 to support their participation. Interested? Submit your proposal by April 11, 2024, and let's work together to bring MEHKOs to your area!
Please note, we’re only accepting proposals from organizations working in counties where MEHKOs are not yet legal.
National Campaign for Home cooking
Several states have already started modeling bills on our California legislation & we expect nation-wide adoption within a decade. So far, we’ve developed model legislation, an equity framework, & a legislative toolkit. We are offering these materials and technical assistance to values-aligned partner organizations nationwide to ensure that legalization benefits cooks & their communities.
Legalizing home restaurants in California
In 2018 and 2019 we passed California bills AB 626 and AB 377 respectively. These two bills legalized home restaurants and created a permitting process for California county environmental agencies to adopt. Our legislative efforts were the result of successful facilitation between grassroots campaigns and key policy stakeholders such as CCDEH (California Conference for the Directors of Environmental Health), CHEAC (County Health Executives Association of California), HOAC (Health Officers Association of California), & CSAC (California State Association of Counties).
CA county implementation
In California, each of the 58 counties - and four cities that have their own health departments - must pass their own ordinance in order to start issuing home restaurant permits. We’ve been providing technical assistance and support to county supervisors and environmental health agencies as they write their ordinances, helping cross pollinate learnings from across the state. We also help counties successfully implement their home restaurant program by providing education & resources for local organizations & agencies to deliver to their constituents.
The backbone of our county implementation efforts is our extensive county lead volunteer network, which consists of cooks & advocates who help promote our movement, strategize & execute on political campaigns, and field local press inquiries.
advancing mehko rights
We worked to secure the passage of AB 1325 in 2023, which expanded limits to 90 meals per week and raised the gross annual sales cap from $50k to $100k (and adjusted annually for inflation)! The legislation also clarified the definition of a “meal,” granting MEHKOs statewide the freedom to sell individual items like beverages and desserts and removing the previous hurdle faced by dessert-focused home cooks who had difficulty obtaining a MEHKO permit in certain jurisdictions.
Special thanks to our partner the Institute for Justice, and our sponsors Assemblymembers Marie Waldron (R), and Eduardo Garcia (D), for their bipartisan efforts.