UF/IFAS Extension
Lee County
Our mission is to respond to Lee County issues and needs through customized education and training in agriculture & natural resources, horticulture, 4-H youth development, marine education, Florida yards and neighborhoods, and family and consumer sciences.
Contact
lee@ifas.ufl.edu
(239) 533-7500
3410 Palm Beach Blvd
Fort Myers, FL 33916
Hours
Monday - Friday
8am - 5pm
Q and A: Understanding Florida’s Cottage Food Law
What is a Cottage Food?
A cottage food product is a non-potentially hazardous food product produced in an unlicensed home kitchen. A person who produces a cottage food product is a Cottage Food Operator
02/02/2018
Beyond Cottage Food Products: What’s pH have to do with it?
Florida’s Cottage Food Law allows food entrepreneurs to use their home kitchen to produce food products that are considered not potentially hazardous. Gross sales for a cottage food operation must not exceed $50,000 annually, require no license or permit and are not inspected by any state government entity
04/24/2019
What's Going on Near You
Event: Budget Clinic for Money Management
This FREE Budget Clinic will provide you with the tools to better manage your money. Participants will receive a UF/IFAS Extension Money Management Calendar
01/02/2018
How to: Demystify Florida’s Food Safety Regulating Agencies
Interested in starting a new food related business in Lee County but confused as to what regulatory agency regulates what in Florida?
There are three main agencies that regulate food establishments in Florida: the Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Department of Health (DOH) regulates civic and fraternal organizations,
12/08/2017
Pandemic eating among the food-secure: more comfort foods, but not a drastic increase
During the first three months of the pandemic, food-secure people did not change their eating habits very much, although some of them turned a bit more to comfort foods, new University of Florida research shows. The study also serves as a cautionary tale for how people might want to eat in future pandemics
01/05/2021
Selling Honey Under Florida’s Cottage Food Law
What is the buzz around Florida’s Cottage Food law? Are you a Florida beekeeper and interested in selling your honey under cottage food law, but uncertain of the rules and regulations?
Beekeepers are permitted to sell raw honey as a cottage food product as long as the beekeeper harvests the honey from the hives and then packages and sells the product themselves. Beekeepers operating as a cottage food operator require no license or permit
09/17/2018
Fact Sheet: Handling the Fish You Catch
One of the joys of fishing is eating the fish you catch, but you may find your catch doesn't taste as fresh as expected. Fish must be handled properly or they will spoil quickly
05/23/2018
How to: Demystify Florida’s Food Safety Regulating Agencies
Interested in starting a new food related business in Lee County but confused as to what regulatory agency regulates what in Florida?
There are three main agencies that regulate food establishments in Florida: the Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Department of Health (DOH) regulates civic and fraternal organizations,
12/08/2017
