WHEN the New York Times reported on the underground food markets the Greenpoint Food Market in New York was forced to close. Small artisanal producers have fallen under scrutiny for preparing their food in uncertified home kitchens. The debate around how to balance food safety with laws that allow small food businesses to thrive has seen certain states opt to relax food safety laws for small home producers. Opponents to some of the exemptions say that it puts the public at risk, while small producers argue that the face-to-face relationship with their customers provides a different kind of food safety guarantee. One of the most promising ideas that has come out of a meeting of these small producers with the local government was turning a 2,500 square foot space in Greenpoint into an affordable incubator kitchen for around 30 cooks. Read the full article at the Civil Eats web site