From Independence · Op-ed
A Walmart in Cody was named Supercenter of the Year. Across the state in Lander, a family with three cows quadrupled their sales somewhere else entirely. Both things are true. Here is how.
Cheyenne · 2015 and 2023
The law that opened the door
In 2015 Wyoming passed the Food Freedom Act: neighbors can sell homemade food straight to neighbors, no license, permit or inspection required. In 2023 lawmakers let producers sell through a designated agent, a storefront that never owns the goods. That is how year-round Food Freedom Markets were born: same hours every week, many farms under one roof, open in January.
∴
The scoreboard
Steven Doyle farms outside Riverton. He says the little markets can take on Walmart and Kroger in exactly three places. Pick one.
Winner
Walmart
Not close, and the farmers will tell you so.
“The price we won’t be able to, not for years.” — Steven Doyle, Riverton
Winner
Too close to call
One stop, many farms, open year-round. But the supercenter has everything else on your list.
“Convenience, our little stores are really helping.” — Doyle
Winner
The market
You can ask the person who made it.
“Kick their ass in quality we can. We own it.” — Doyle
Final score: one each, and a tie. Which is the point. The market is a second door, not a replacement for the first.
The Supercenter isn’t the only store in Cody. Three storefronts down the road:
Cody · storefront
Hippy Cow Creamery
A creamery with its own storefront, in the same town as the Supercenter of the Year.
∴ Find them
Downtown Cody · since 1995
Wyoming Buffalo Company
Three generations of women run this shop: wild game sausage and jerky, berry syrups and preserves. They call it the Sample Store.
∴ Find them
The shop is at 1270 Sheridan Ave, and everything ships from wyobuffalo.com ↗
Cody · since 2002
Little Acres Farms
The Bates family sells raw milk, bread from their Country Bakery, cheese and meat, with subscriptions online.
∴ Find them
∴
Meet the producers
Sheridan · hydroponics
Papa Joe’s Produce
Wyoming’s growing season is short. Joe Wesnitzer’s isn’t. He harvests about 250 plants a week, all year, and the market gives him somewhere to sell them in February.
∴ Why it matters
Farmers’ markets close for the winter. A storefront that stays open turns a summer hobby into year-round income.
Lander · Meadowlark Market
Country Meadows Dairy
Jan and Ben started with one cow. Demand at Meadowlark pushed them to three, about fifteen half-gallons a day, and their sales grew fourfold.
∴ The shared kitchen
Some markets run a communal kitchen, because a home kitchen isn’t built for the volume a busy producer needs.
The sauerkraut situation
Farmer Fred’s
One shopper called it the best sauerkraut in town. She’d have bought the big bucket, but only the green kind was in stock and she wanted the purple.
∴ The real product
That conversation. A customer telling the maker what she wants next week is something no supercenter can offer.
∴
Since the paper
2015
The Act
Homemade food sold directly, person to person, with no license or inspection.
2023
The storefront
SF0102 lets producers sell through a designated agent that never owns the goods. Eggs and dairy came in too.
2026
The first test
The state barred a Cheyenne storefront from selling certain meats, and lawmakers are drafting changes. Still being written.
∴
Why not here?
Minnesota’s cottage food law, Minn. Stat. § 28A.152, lets you sell homemade food in three places. A storefront isn’t one of them.
Wyoming
Food Freedom Act
Where you can sell: directly to the customer, or through a designated agent, a store that holds and sells your goods.
A storefront with regular hours: yes. Food Freedom Markets are open all year.
Sales cap: none.
Paperwork: no license, permit or inspection.
Minnesota
Cottage Foods Exemption
Where you can sell: at a farmers’ market or community event, from your home if your city allows it, or by donating to a fundraiser (Subd. 2).
A storefront with regular hours: no. Nothing in Subd. 2 allows a third-party store or agent.
Sales cap: $78,000 a year once the 2025 changes take effect in August 2027 (Subd. 3).
Paperwork: register every year for $30 and repeat food-safety training every three years (Subd. 4 and 5).
The fix
Add one clause to Subd. 2: “(4) through a designated agent or storefront that holds and sells the food on the producer’s behalf without taking ownership.”
Local zoning and licensing still apply under Subd. 6, so every city keeps its say.
Coming soon? · Independence, Minnesota
INDEPENDENCE FOOD FREEDOM MARKET
Open ______ · Eggs · Bread · Honey · Whatever the neighbors make
Concept sketch, AI-generated. Not a real building or site.
Imagine it here
Change one line and a market like Meadowlark could open here. Hobby farmers making a little money, getting to know the people down the road, and dollars that stay in town instead of heading to a corporate office.
I would love to see what our community can do.
∴ Sources
Cowboy State Daily, “Cody’s Walmart Named Best in the Country,” April 23, 2023 · Wyoming Food Freedom Act (2015) · SF0102 (2023) · Homegrown Stories · Marketplace, April 24, 2024 · Meadowlark Market, Lander · Wyoming Public Media, June 23, 2026 · Institute for Justice, state cottage food reforms · Minn. Stat. § 28A.152 (2025). Photos gathered from the reporting above; credit to the original outlets.
