In Utah, kids' lemonade stands get special legal protections

Catch up quick: Reports of children's businesses being shut down over licensure go back decades — typically prompting public outcry.

• In 2011, for example, county officials in Maryland walked back a $500 fine against a family whose kids' lemonade stand fundraised for cancer patients.

Flashback: In 2017, Utah lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in support of a law to ban local governments from regulating pop-up businesses operated by minors.

• Those protections were expanded in 2023 to exempt kids from the food-handling rules that apply to prepared food sold at farms and markets.

Zoom in: In their first foray into capitalism, my kid and her friend turned our Witch House into a bakery and gourmet mocktail bar this weekend. It was like a lemonade stand on roids. One of the drinks involved serviceberry-tarragon syrup.

• After a Momvestment of ingredients and plastic cups, they made more than $100 — though the first attempt was more about learning food-service basics, like remembering a garbage can and refreshing ice in the water jug.

• Next time, they'll focus more on profit margins and marketing.

The bottom line: It was a lot of work, but they learned a lot — including that they can't get busted by Johnny Law.