Texas cops shut down young sisters’ lemonade stand, say they need a permit

In “What is this world coming to?” news, Overton, Texas, police officers forced two young girls to close up their lemonade stand because they were operating without a permit.

“We were trying to raise some money to take our dad to Splash Kingdom,” 8-year-old Andria Green told KLTV. Her 7-year-old sister, Zoey Green, added they were offering lemonade for $0.50 and kettle corn for $1.00.

Everything was going well for the first hour and a half, until police showed up after getting a call that the girls were working too close to the curb on a residential road.

“A code enforcement officer and the chief, she called me to the side and said we needed a permit,” the girls’ mom, Sandi Evans, said. “I think that’s ridiculous. I think they’re 7 and 8 and they’re just trying to make money for their own cause.”

Despite Sandi’s protest, Police Chief Clyde Carter said the health department requires a permit to sell any food that needs time or temperature control.

“We have to follow by the state health guidelines,” Police Chief Carter said. “They have to have a permit if they’re going to do the lemonade stands.”

The Green sisters aren’t the first to have a lemonade shut down: In a 2011 Forbes article titled “The Inexplicable War on Lemonade Stands,” the author described a number of similar incidents. In that article, Erik Kain wrote:

From slapping parents with $500 fines for letting their kids run unlicensed lemonade stands (though this was later waived after public outcry), to government officials calling the cops on kids selling cupcakes, the list goes on and on and on. But it’s the shutdown of lemonade stands that I find so inexplicable. Who stands to lose from a couple of six-year-olds selling lemonade? Who stands to gain from shutting them down?

Rules vary by state, but parents and kids who want to set up lemonade stands should check into local rules for food permits, public health licenses, zoning and traffic laws and labor laws. Or follow the Green girls’ lead by running the stand on a donation-only basis, which is what they plan to do this weekend.