Big Brother Has Eyes on Greenpoint Food Market Vendors
It looks like the health department is about to start raining on Greenpoint's handmade food parade. The city says that vendors at the monthly Greenpoint Food Market will be under close scrutiny following a piece in The New York Times about the homemade aspect of many items for sale. Per The Brooklyn Paper: 
vimiramontes/Flickr So long, homemade baked goods.
City rules require all vendors to have specific food-handling certificates based on the products they make and sell -- but after the New York Times dining section followed our stories about the popular market, the Health Department announced new enforcement of home cooks and foodies who are hoping to make the leap from the marketplace in the basement of the Church of the Messiah into the food biz.
A similar crackdown on Red Hook vendors back in 2007 caused a number of them to drop out rather than invest in the costs associated with complying with city regulations. Specific vending licenses can be obtained for as little as $25, but rent space in a commercial kitchen -- one of the food preparation and storage requirements the city is looking to enforce in Greenpoint -- can run up to $200 a day. For young entrepreneurs struggling to turn a small profit, having to adhere to professional kitchen rules could force them to close up shop altogether.
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