Nanny State-ism at its best. See the cute little girl running the lemonade stand. Where normal look at her and say “Awwww” Oregon’s health inspector shut her down because she didn’t have a license.
Yup. The health inspector made her cry.
Oregon Live has this absurd but true story:
It’s hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.
So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise last week for operating without a license, you might just sigh and say, there they go again.
Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license.
Turns out that kids’ lemonade stands — those constants of summertime — are supposed to get a permit in Oregon, particularly at big events that happen to be patrolled regularly by county health inspectors.
“I understand the reason behind what they’re doing and it’s a neighborhood event, and they’re trying to generate revenue,” said Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department. “But we still need to put the public’s health first.”
What is wrong with these people. Seriously?
The money quote from the news report is this one:
“Technically, any lemonade stand — even one on your front lawn — must be licensed under state law, said Eric Pippert, the food-borne illness prevention program manager for the state’s public health division.”
How does one even say something like that with a straight face.
And just remember that this had nothing to do with actual health. This was about paying a fee to get a license. That’s all it was about. Money.
Big Government. Making girls cry is worth $150 at a time.
HT Memeorandum
August 6, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Additional thoughts: if the lemonade stand was on public grounds then the child's parents should have had to get her a permit.
With regards to the sign, I would argue that common sense should win out here…caveat emptor. Buying any foodstuff from a child comes with known risks…kids are notorious for sticking fingers in their noses, after all, and are little incubators for all sorts of germs. (I have 6, and we're experiencing the joys of that this week, as fever and croup passes from child to child). There's no need for a warning sign.
August 7, 2010 at 12:19 pm
On the other hand, in pretty liberal Maine, we just listened to a talk radio business program featuring kids and lemonade stands. The two businesses featured had both been selling lemonade and baked goods for 5-6 years in front of their homes. They asked for the children's address several times each to promote their stands, which did worry me a little in terms of safety. However, Maine is a pretty low crime state, the police and court blotters for each town in our county are printed every week in the paper and in total they don't cover 1/2 a page.
August 9, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Don Cline – Seriously? It's a kids' freakin' lemonade stand! Get a life!
August 11, 2010 at 3:42 am
I live in Oregon, and my kids have asked about setting up stands of this type. I never thought I would need to get them health permits.
All restaurants etc are already required to post their permits. No permit posted = unlicensed operator.
If you buy from a kid, I think you should know what to expect. If you are concerned about being germ-free, don't buy from an "unlicenced" operator. Not rocket science.