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  • From: "Paul A. Bock" <bockpa AT plesh.com>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] market insurance
  • Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2003 16:19:25 -0400

I have never heard about this kind of insurance either.  You might need a vending permit from a town or city and maybe a sales tax permit from the state.  I had never heard of insurance for selling canned or baked goods.  I would imagine that you would need to be inspected by a health department to ensure that your processing facilities up up to snuff.  But this type of thing might be dependant on state/county laws.  I am in New York State, Chautauqua county.  What liability would the insurance protect against?  Someone suing you because they got sick?  You would have no control though over what the person did with the food item when they left your vendor area.  Are you at fault for someone who leaves a perishable food item in their hot car for several hours while they are at a market?  Now if several of your clients became ill with the same sickness, in my area, that gets back to a health department type of thing.  I am guessing that the market's insurance is for general liability, someone falls and breaks a leg or something while at the market, I can't imagine how high your rents would be if the market carried insurance to cover people getting sick from a food item sold at the market.  Makes me wonder... would a peanut vendor be responsible for someone dying because they ate his peanuts and the buyer happened to be allergic to them.     
I am growing heirloom tomatoes for the market and this is my first year.  I was browsing the market today getting display ideas and I noticed that most tomato growers use a box made for produce to keep from bruising, they keep the tomatoes seperated and neat.  Where would I get such boxes?  I also noticed that the tomatoes were sitting in the sun a bit on the tables at the markets and they got soft fast... doesnt take long in 100 degree heat.  I would need to ensure they would be in the shade all day, however would a mister system help?  Seems like a bit of work, maybe keeping them in coolers and only have one box out at a time.  I also was asking a lady that sold chipolte about where she got her insurance to sell out at the markets.  (my homeowner/vehicle insurance agent doesnt provide that) She told me that it wasnt her job to carry insurance that it was the markets.  I asked her how much the market carried and who to talk to about that and she had no clue. Anything canned or baked she said did not need insurance.  I could have swore this wasnt true... can someone enlighten me on that one too?  Thank you !
  Judy Lynn



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