deciphering regulations and codes

We're starting to research the legalities behind producing and processing meat as a business. 

I'm slowing wading through this site:  http://law.justia.com/california/codes/fac.html

And came across this exemption in the poultry articles:

5703.  (a) This part does not apply to poultry meat which is
derived from poultry which is produced upon the premises where it is
slaughtered if the poultry meat is sold by the producer in any of the
following ways:
  (1) At retail upon the premises.
  (2) At retail off of the premises, either direct to consumers at
their homes or at a retail stand which is operated by the producer in
a farmers' market.
  (b) As used in this section, "producer" includes only an
individual producer who does not employ, except in unforeseeable
exigencies, any person except members of his or her immediate family.


Soooo.....we can raise, slaughter and sell chickens and rabbits at our farm and at farmers markets as long as we have no hired employees?  Someone with more experience in this, please help.  Or point us in a more informative direction.

That's what it looks like from here. 
Raise, harvest, sell, do it yourself, you are exempt from section 5703.
Sales on site, at farmers market and door to door look to be acceptable.

[quote author=kpeavey]Sales on site, at farmers market and door to door look to be acceptable.

I dare you to go door-to-door with a plucked chicken in one hand and a skinned rabbit in the other.  I'll give you my shiniest penny.

but yeah, looks like you're in the clear for poultry.  is rabbit considered poultry?

The image that conjures has me cracking up.  Also reminds me of a joke..

How do you sell a duck to a deaf guy?

Get real close to his ear and yell "[size=14pt]YOU WANNA BUY A DUCK?[/size]"

HA!  Y'all are funny...

As used in this section, "producer" includes only an
individual producer who does not employ, except in unforeseeable
exigencies, any person except members of his or her immediate family.


I feel this is a hole to exploit.  Because, really, how would we do it with just the two of us?  My partner and I aren't even immediate family, cause we're not married!

Yes, according to the statute you cited, when you "slaughter" your poultry, you may not have any "employees" around. Of course because of the wording, there are ways around that if you wish to play those kind of games 

However, California is following Federal Law as allowed by U.S.C. TITLE 21; CHAPTER 10; § 454.

§ 455 & § 456 of the same Title & Chapter discuss inspection. § 458 of the same above discuss Prohibited Acts. § 464 of the same above discusses Exemptions.

Remember Federal Statutes can't be superseded by State Statues, but they can be made stronger, which is what I think you will find in U.S.C. Title 21; Chapter 10; § 464; Subsection C; Paragraph 1; Clauses C & D. Basically, they allow for the packaging of self-slaughtered poultry for resale under certain condition. It looks like the California Statute simply ADDS another condition, which is allowed under § 454 of the above Title & Chapter.

This is all a preliminary/rough draft piece of advice. I highly advise looking all of this up yourself to make fully sure what the law(s) are if you are interested in Federal Aspect of this. Perhaps the rule about not having employees stems from the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Only one way to find out 

Thank you for the input, Virginia!  I decided to try and figure out California's stipulations first, because I assumed they'd be a bit more strict than the federal ones, this being such a huge ag-biz state.  But you're right, we've got to know what the FDA wants.  I have a hard time with legal language. 

I suggest having a legal/law dictionary on hand. Also remember to read the "Definitions" section(s) in each title/chapter/etc of any statutory code. This can help a lot in understanding what a certain code/statute means. Learning the law is the best way to figure out the system and beat it, and I think with some diligent study, you'd be surprised what you find out