The short version: If you make food in your own home kitchen and sell it at a Tennessee farmers market, you need no state food license, permit, inspection or registration, and there is no sales cap. That comes from the Food Freedom Act, and since July 1, 2025 it covers refrigerated foods like cream pies and cheesecakes too, as long as you sell those in person. The main permit at the market is the Farmers Market Food Unit permit for vendors who prepare, sell or serve unpackaged food that needs temperature control, like hot meals or sliced cold desserts, at the booth with portable equipment: $300 a year, or $150 for a permit bought after January 1, created by Public Chapter 475 and in effect since January 1, 2024. You still owe sales tax, a business license once yearly sales in any one county or city pass $3,000, and a few farm products (meat, plants, cut or bagged produce made outside your home, and anything you weigh at the table) have their own state permits.
Checked on the Department of Health's food unit section, the Food Freedom Act text and the Department of Revenue's pages, October 8, 2026: every fee and rule below was loaded that day. Rules change, so verify your state's current rules and ask your county health department before you cook at a booth.
Selling home food at a Tennessee farmers market takes very little paperwork. The Food Freedom Act means most home producers need no license, permit, registration or inspection at all. The main exception is vendors who actually cook or serve perishable food on site at the market. Here is what applies to you, what it costs, and where to apply.
The goal is getting cleared to sell. Once you are, a Homegrown storefront ($10/month billed annually, 0% commission, plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing) makes taking Tennessee orders and pickups between market days easier.
Yes, if you made it in your own home and you sell it to customers inside Tennessee. Tennessee's Food Freedom Act says homemade food is "exempt from all licensing, permitting, inspecting, packaging, and labeling laws of this state," except when the Department of Health is looking into a reported foodborne illness (T.C.A. § 53-1-118, current through the 2025 session). There is no sales cap anywhere in the law, and no state fee: the state permit cost is $0.
The Department of Agriculture confirms it does "not issue permits, licenses, or conduct inspections" for food made under the act (TDA's Food Freedom Act page, loaded October 8, 2026). So there is no state application to fill out before your first market day.
Since July 1, 2025, the law splits homemade food into two lanes. The lane decides how you can sell it, not whether you can sell it at a market:
Swipe left to see both lanes and where each can sell.
| Lane | Examples | At a farmers market? | Online or through a shop? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable (no refrigeration needed) | Bread, cookies, fruit pies, candy, jams and jellies, properly canned pickles, dried fruit, granola, roasted nuts, honey, maple syrup | Yes, in person | Yes: online, by phone, through a retail shop, and delivered by you or a carrier inside Tennessee |
| Refrigerated (needs time or temperature control for safety) | Cream pies, cheesecakes, custards, fresh salsa, cut fruit | Yes, sold in person by you or your agent | No. In person only, no online sales and no shops |
| Not allowed as refrigerated foods under the act (§ 53-1-118(b)(3)(A)) | Unpasteurized (raw) milk, alcohol, red meat (beef, lamb, pork), meat byproducts, fish, shellfish | No | No |
From T.C.A. § 53-1-118(b)(1) to (b)(3) as amended by the 2025 law, and the University of Tennessee's PB1909 fact sheet, loaded October 8, 2026. PB1909 adds that most meat products must be processed in a licensed, inspected facility anyway, and UT reads "non-alcoholic" as under 0.5% alcohol in the final product. Refrigerated foods may include poultry only under two narrow federal exemptions (§ 53-1-118(b)(3)(B)). Food made in a church, community or commercial kitchen is outside the act and needs a TDA or Department of Health permit.
The act has no list of allowed foods. It sorts homemade food by one test: whether it needs refrigeration (time or temperature control) for safety (§ 53-1-118(b)). UT's examples of foods that are usually shelf-stable include breads and cookies, candy and chocolate, jams, jellies and syrups, acidified canned foods like pickles, salsas and relishes, fermented foods like sauerkraut, and dried foods like dried fruit, nuts and granola. Cream pies and cheesecakes fall in the refrigerated lane and sell in person. Canned foods count as shelf-stable only after a tested heat process, and low-acid canned vegetables need a pressure-canning process, per UT's 2025 Food Freedom Act guidance.
For the full picture of the law itself, see our Tennessee cottage food law guide and our walkthrough on how to start a cottage food business in Tennessee. This page sticks to market day: the booth, the permits around the edges, and the taxes.
Every homemade product you sell at the market needs four pieces of information, shown to the buyer. The statute lists them in § 53-1-118(b)(4):
How you show it depends on how the food sits on your table. Packaged food gets a label on the package. Food sold from a bulk jar gets a label on the jar. Unpackaged food, like loose cookies on a tray, gets a placard at the point of sale. UT Extension also strongly recommends a "Keep Refrigerated" line on refrigerated products (PB1909, published January 2026).
The required statement is 21 words long, and your name, home address and phone number add three more lines. Lay out a 2 inch by 3 inch label with the food's name on top, the ingredients in the middle and the statement on its own two lines at the bottom, then print one sheet and read it at arm's length before you order a full roll.
Most homemade foods need nothing from the state, but five kinds of market products do: perishable food cooked or served at the booth, cut, shelled or bagged produce made outside your home, meat, nursery plants, and anything you weigh on a scale at the table. Here is the full list we checked on October 8, 2026:
Scroll sideways to see every permit and its source.
| What you sell at the market | State permit needed? | Who issues it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable food made in your home | No | None | T.C.A. § 53-1-118 |
| Refrigerated food made in your home, packaged and labeled at home, sold in person | No | None | T.C.A. § 53-1-118(b)(3) |
| Unpackaged food that needs temperature control, cooked, prepared or served at the booth with portable equipment | Yes, Farmers Market Food Unit permit, $300 a year ($150 after January 1) | Department of Health, through your county health department | T.C.A. §§ 68-14-728 and 68-14-713(a)(6) |
| Samples at a farmers market | No, if you follow 7 conditions | None | T.C.A. § 68-14-727 |
| Whole, uncut fruits and vegetables you grew | No | None | T.C.A. § 53-8-203, per TDA's farmers market guidance |
| Cut, shelled or bagged produce, made outside your home | Yes, a TDA-inspected facility | Department of Agriculture | TDA farmers market guidance |
| Shell eggs from your own flock of under 3,000 hens | No state permit; federal carton rules apply | None (federal Safe Handling Instructions) | UT Extension PB1898 |
| Beef, pork, lamb or goat cuts from a USDA plant | Yes, Retail Meat Sales Permit and inspection | Department of Agriculture | TDA farm-based retail meat page |
| Bedding plants, herbs in pots, shrubs, trees | Yes, plant dealer, greenhouse or nursery certificate | TDA Plant Certification Section | TDA plants page and farmers market guidance |
| Anything priced by weight on a scale at the booth | Yes, a yearly scale permit after inspection | TDA Weights and Measures | T.C.A. § 47-26-907; UT Extension D56 |
Loaded October 8, 2026. The produce, cut produce and plant rows come from TDA's "Rules for Food Sold at Farmers Markets" guidance (spring 2019 edition, still posted by UT Extension), checked against the current TDA plants and meat pages the same day. Honey is shelf-stable, so homemade honey fits the act's no-refrigeration lane, and that same TDA guidance says selling under 150 gallons a year needs no license (T.C.A. § 53-8-203(13)).
In a pull of the Homegrown catalog on October 8, 2026, 1,484 of the 2,911 products listed by 313 vendors (51%) sat in the Bakery category. These are vendors across many states, not Tennessee alone. Bakery, pantry staples and most ready-to-eat foods fit the no-permit Food Freedom Act lane when made at home in Tennessee. The 116 meat and poultry listings and many of the 107 plant and flower listings are the ones that could need a state permit here. We counted by the category each vendor picked, not by product names.
Homegrown products by category, October 8, 2026
Source: public Homegrown catalog pull, October 8, 2026, 2,911 products from 313 vendors. Eight largest food and farm categories shown.
You need a permit when you cook, prepare or serve unpackaged perishable food at the market itself using portable, improvised equipment, such as a grill, a pop-up oven, or a table where you plate food to order. Perishable here means food that needs time or temperature control for safety: hot meals, cooked meats, cut fruit, sliced cheesecake. The state calls that booth a Farmers Market Food Unit.
The category was created by Senate Bill 1049 / House Bill 1077, which became Public Chapter 475 when the governor signed it in May 2023. The original bill said July 1, 2023, but Senate Amendment 1 moved the date, so the permit has been in effect since January 1, 2024. The law defines a food unit as a stand that "prepares, sells, or services unpackaged time/temperature control for safety food" at one or more farmers markets, with improvised rather than permanent equipment.
Here is what the permit costs and how it works, from the Department of Health's Environmental Health page and the law, loaded October 8, 2026:
A first-year example: if you apply in March 2027, you pay $150 for a permit that expires June 30, 2027, then $300 to renew through June 30, 2028. That is $450 for your first 16 months of selling.
The file the Department of Health links as the food unit "Public Chapter" is the bill as first introduced, and it shows a July 1, 2023 start date. The enacted law, Public Chapter 475 as changed by Senate Amendment 1, took effect January 1, 2024. We checked the bill history and the amendment on the General Assembly's site on October 8, 2026.
What about cutting a pie at the booth? The law covers unpackaged refrigerated-type food prepared or served at the market. Our reading, which no state page we loaded spells out: if you slice a cheesecake or scoop a cold salad at the booth, you are preparing food away from your home, so you fall outside the Food Freedom Act and inside the food unit rules (samples handed out under the seven sampling conditions are the exception). The easy way to stay exempt is to slice and package at home, label each piece, and keep it cold on the table.
What about hot food that does not need refrigeration, like kettle corn? The food unit definition names only food that needs time or temperature control. We did not find a state page that says how kettle corn or roasted nuts cooked at the booth are handled, so call your county health department before market day.
You apply online, then bring your equipment to an inspection at your county health department. The Department of Health lists five steps, loaded October 8, 2026:
Five counties run their own food permitting: Davidson (Nashville), Hamilton (Chattanooga), Knox (Knoxville), Madison (Jackson) and Shelby (Memphis). The Department of Health calls them "contract counties" responsible for their own permitting and enforcement. If you live in one, call that office first:
The Department of Health wants to see a working handwashing station, ways to keep food covered and at the right temperature, and a three-pan dishwashing setup. This is the minimum list you bring to the pre-operational appointment, from its Environmental Health page on October 8, 2026:
Handwashing
Food preparation and protection
Dishwashing
Your market may have tent rules too: White House's 2026 market policy, for one, says every tent and canopy must be "securely anchored." Our guide to the best canopy tents for farmers markets covers weights and sizes.
Time your application. The permit year ends June 30 no matter when you start, and applying after January 1 cuts the first-year fee from $300 to $150. If your first market is in the spring, applying in January instead of December saves $150 for the same selling season.
You can hand out samples at a Tennessee farmers market with no license or permit if you follow seven conditions. They come from the same law, Public Chapter 475, now T.C.A. § 68-14-727, and they apply to fresh produce, value-added products, food from licensed kitchens, Food Freedom Act foods, and hot food from a permitted food unit:
Our farmers market sampling tips cover which products to sample, portion sizes and keeping samples food-safe. Your market can still add its own sampling rules: White House's 2026 policy, for example, makes vendors who hand out cups or spoons bring their own waste containers.
Whole produce, small-flock eggs and small-batch honey need no state permit, so you pay $0 in state permit fees for them, but meat and nursery plants do need one. Here is each one in plain terms:
You need a TDA scale permit if you weigh food on a scale at your table to set the price. Tennessee requires a "legal for trade" scale that TDA's Weights and Measures staff have inspected and permitted. UT Extension's guide D56 (May 2018) lists the steps: call TDA at 615-837-5109, pass an inspection, get a dated sticker, then pay a yearly permit fee. That guide listed $25 a year for one to five small scales, so confirm today's fee when you call.
Prepackaged food is different. UT's PB1909 says pre-packaged homemade food does not have to be weighed on a licensed scale, but any net weight you print must be accurate. Pricing baked goods and jars by the piece avoids the scale question.
TDA's Weights and Measures page also explains that most products must be sold by weight, measure or count. UT's D56 adds that some produce, like grapes, must be sold by net weight, while most produce can go by weight, count or dry measure.
Homemade food sold at a Tennessee market owes sales tax, usually at the 7% prepared-food rate plus a local rate of up to 2.75%. The Food Freedom Act does not exempt you from "any applicable tax law" (§ 53-1-118(c)(4)), so you register for Tennessee sales tax with the Department of Revenue, collect it at the booth, and file through the state's online system, TNTAP. The Department says "all sales and use tax returns and associated payments must be submitted electronically" (registration page).
The rate depends on what you sell, from the Department of Revenue's rate page and its Notice 17-21, loaded October 8, 2026:
Slide the table sideways for the tax on a $20 sale.
| What you sell | State rate | Local rate | Tax on a $20 sale at the 2.75% local maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baked goods you made (prepared food) | 7% | Up to 2.75% | $1.95 |
| Food you only cut or repackage, without mixing or heating it | 4% | Up to 2.75% | $1.35 |
| Produce you grew yourself | Exempt | Exempt | $0.00 |
Department of Revenue rate page and Notice 17-21 ("Sales Tax on Prepared Food"), loaded October 8, 2026. Notice 17-21 lists "bakery goods" as prepared food when the seller makes them. The produce row comes from Revenue's agricultural exemption notices SUT-140 and SUT-149: a farmer's own products are exempt, and the exemption covers everything a farmer sells only when at least 50% of it was grown by that farmer. Your local rate depends on where you sell.
Food counts as prepared food, taxed at 7%, if you heated it, mixed two or more ingredients to make it, or you hand the buyer plates, forks or napkins with it. That is why a cookie you baked is taxed at the higher rate. Jams, pickles and other mixed products can fit the "two or more ingredients" test too, so ask the Department of Revenue if you are unsure about a product.
You need one only once your gross sales in a county (or city) pass $3,000 a year. The Department of Revenue's Business Tax Manual (June 2026) sets three tiers, counted per jurisdiction and for each location:
Drag sideways to see what each license costs.
| Your gross sales in a year, in each county or city | License | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| $3,000 or less | None required | $0 |
| More than $3,000, less than $100,000 | Minimal activity license | $15 to the county, plus $15 to the city if it has a business tax, each time you apply |
| $100,000 or more | Standard business license plus a yearly business tax return | $15 license, plus a minimum business tax of $22 per location ($44 in a city with its own business tax) |
Business Tax Manual, June 2026 edition, pages 29 to 32, loaded October 8, 2026. The state does not issue these licenses: your county clerk does, and a city official if your city has a business tax.
Farmers selling their own farm products may owe no business tax at all. The same manual's Agricultural Sales section (page 121) says sales of "livestock, horses, poultry, nursery stock, and other farm products direct from the farm are exempt from business tax" when the producer makes them, so ask your county clerk whether your market sales count.
A home baker in a city with its own business tax who sells $8,000 a year at markets pays $30 total ($15 county plus $15 city) for a minimal activity license. Our guide on whether you need a business license to sell food from home explains the difference between a business license, a food handler's permit and a cottage food registration.
A Tennessee market can ask for an application, a booth fee and $1 million in liability insurance even when the state requires no permit at all. A market's application is a private contract between you and the market, so it can also set product approval and its own sign rules.
One real example: the City of White House's 2026 farmers market policies (revised February 2026, loaded October 8, 2026) ask every vendor for:
White House's sign rule for homemade food also uses wording that differs from the statement the state law now requires. Print the state's exact statement on your label, and ask the manager whether the market still wants its own sign too.
Our guides to farmers market vendor insurance and vendor application tips cover the two things markets ask for most.
The food rules follow you anywhere in Tennessee, but the tax and permit details change by venue. Here is what we found:
Each Tennessee permit comes from a different office, and a home baker selling packaged food usually needs only the sales tax registration, plus a business license when yearly sales in one jurisdiction top $3,000:
Swipe left to see where each permit comes from.
| You need | Apply with | How |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing for homemade food | No agency | Label correctly and sell inside Tennessee |
| Farmers Market Food Unit permit | Department of Health (or your contract county) | Online survey linked on the Environmental Health page, then a county inspection |
| Sales tax registration | Department of Revenue | Register and file on TNTAP |
| Business license (over $3,000 in sales per county or city) | County clerk, and city if it has a business tax | Contact your county clerk, and your city official if your city has a business tax |
| Retail meat permit | Department of Agriculture | Email NewFood.Business@tn.gov or call 615-837-5193 |
| Scale permit | TDA Weights and Measures | Call 615-837-5109 to book an inspection |
| Plant certificate | TDA Plant Certification Section | Forms on TDA's plant certification page |
Agency pages loaded October 8, 2026.
Start at the official sources: the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Food Freedom Act page for the home-food path, and the Tennessee Department of Health Environmental Health page, which holds the Farmers Market Food Unit section, if you will cook on site.
Once you are cleared for market day, the next problem is the days between markets. Regulars want to reorder, and your phone fills with "can you save me two loaves?" texts. Homegrown is $10 per month (billed annually, or $12.50 billed monthly) with no percentage fees beyond standard payment processing. It gives you one ordering link where Tennessee customers pay ahead and pick up at your booth, your porch or your farm stand, with several pickup locations on one storefront.
It fits the Tennessee rules if you set it up right. The law lets shelf-stable foods be ordered and paid for online. Refrigerated foods must be sold in person, so keep those off your online menu and sell them at the booth. Homegrown calculates sales tax at checkout and files it for storefront orders; your cash sales at the booth are still yours to report on TNTAP.
Scroll sideways to see every fee.
| Platform | Monthly plan | Trial | Platform fee | Card processing | Customer pays on a $20 order | Vendor pays on a $20 order | Vendor pays in a month of 50 orders at $20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homegrown, annual plan | $10 billed annually | 7 days, no charge until day 8 | $0, 0% commission | 2.9% + $0.30, paid by the vendor | $20.00 | $0.88 plus the plan | $54.00 |
| Homegrown, monthly plan | $12.50 billed monthly | 7 days, no charge until day 8 | $0, 0% commission | 2.9% + $0.30, vendor-paid | $20.00 | $0.88 plus the plan | $56.50 |
| Hotplate, default | $0 | None (no plan) | 5% + $0.55, paid by the customer | 2.9% + $0.30, charged to the vendor | $21.55 | $0.88 | $44.00 |
| Hotplate, vendor covers the fee | $0 | None (no plan) | 5% + $0.55, paid by the vendor | 2.9% + $0.30, also on the vendor | $20.00 | $2.43 | $121.50 |
Checked on Homegrown's signup page and Hotplate's pricing page, October 8, 2026. Hotplate's own post "What Hotplate does" says "we charge a fee to your customer" and "80% of Hotplate chefs keep the default as-is." Card processing here is figured on the $20 price; a platform that charges it on the total with fees runs a few cents higher. Sales tax is not included.
Hotplate suits vendors who run timed drops. Paper order forms and payment apps leave you matching payments to names by hand. Homegrown's honest bounds: customers create a Homegrown account to place their first order, there is no drops or countdown feature, your storefront is listed on the Homegrown marketplace but plan on most orders coming from people you send to your own link, and card processing is paid by you with no pass-through to the customer. If you want a closer look at how vendors take orders between markets, see our guide to online ordering for farmers market vendors, or set up your storefront and put the link on your booth sign.
Most problems at Tennessee markets come from a missing label line or food prepared in the wrong place, not from a missing permit. Watch for these:
For food you make in your own home and sell in Tennessee, no. The Food Freedom Act requires no license, permit, registration or inspection, and it has no sales cap. The exception is cooking or serving perishable food on site, such as hot meals or cut cold foods, which needs a Farmers Market Food Unit permit ($300 a year, or $150 after January 1). You still register for sales tax, and you need a business license after your sales in one county or city go over $3,000 a year.
It lets you sell a broad range of home-produced foods with no license or cap: baked goods, candies, jams, acidified foods like pickles, dried foods, honey and maple syrup, plus refrigerated foods like cream pies and cheesecakes since July 1, 2025. Refrigerated foods must be sold in person. Every item needs your name, home address, phone number, the food's name, its ingredients and the state's private-residence statement.
You need it when you prepare, sell or serve unpackaged food that needs refrigeration or heat at the market, using portable equipment. The permit costs $300 a year ($150 when bought in the second half of the July to June permit year), comes from the Department of Health after an inspection at your county health department, and took effect on January 1, 2024. If you only sell packaged food you made at home, you do not need it.
Yes. Register for Tennessee sales tax and file on TNTAP: baked goods you make are taxed at the 7% state rate plus a local rate of up to 2.75%, while produce you grew yourself is exempt. Once your gross sales in a single jurisdiction pass $3,000 a year, you also need a minimal activity business license from your county clerk, which costs $15 per jurisdiction.
For most home cooks, yes. Tennessee has no license, no sales cap, no state registration and no kitchen inspection for food made at home, and the 2025 change opened refrigerated foods for in-person sales. The limits are real but short: sell only inside Tennessee, label every item, keep refrigerated foods off your online menu, and get a food unit permit if you cook or serve perishable food at the booth.
No, not if you bake them in your own home kitchen and label them. Bread, cookies and fruit pies can sell at the market, online or through a shop, and cream pies and cheesecakes can sell in person at the market. You do collect sales tax on baked goods at the 7% state rate plus your local rate.
Not if you make it at home. Tennessee's definition of a homemade food item includes non-alcoholic beverages, so homemade lemonade falls under the Food Freedom Act with the same label rules. Squeezing and pouring lemonade at the booth is preparing food on site, so ask your county health department about a food unit permit first. Our homemade lemonade guide covers bottling, juice warning labels and booth permits in other states.
These six guides answer the questions Tennessee market vendors ask next, from the full Tennessee law to the permit rules in nearby states:
Tennessee lets you sell homemade food at a farmers market with no license, permit, inspection or sales cap, as long as you label it and sell inside the state. The exception is preparing hot meals or cut cold foods at your table, which needs a Farmers Market Food Unit permit ($300 a year, $150 after January 1), in effect since January 1, 2024. Meat, nursery plants, cut or shelled produce prepared outside your home, and anything you weigh at the table have their own TDA permits. Register for sales tax and collect it at the booth. Get a business license once your sales in any county or city pass $3,000 a year, and you are set. Once you are selling, a simple storefront makes pickups between markets easy. Set up a Homegrown storefront for $10/month billed annually at 0% commission, plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing, and check other states on our cottage food laws by state hub, or compare permit rules in other states in our farmers market vendor permits by state guide.
*This guide is general information, not legal advice. Permit rules change, and local business taxes vary. Verify your state's current rules with the Tennessee Departments of Agriculture, Health and Revenue and your local government before selling. Last updated: October 2026.*
