MERIDIAN, Idaho — What started as a hands-on homeschool project for Melissa Ohrt and her children has grown from one honor-system setup outside their Meridian home to three sales locations across the Treasure Valley.
WATCH: Bigfoot’s Munchies grows after Meridian code dispute
Ohrt started Bigfoot’s Munchies as a way to teach her homeschooled children about running a business.
“I said, you know, what better way than to start a little business that we can do,” Ohrt said. “And we do it in the evenings and on the weekends.”
The business operates on the honor system. Customers choose their treats and use QR codes or a cash dispenser to pay before leaving.
Ohrt’s son, Leland, said the experience has taught him more than just how to help run the business.
“It’s also been a very good experience learning about economics and learning about laws,” he said.
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But just three weeks after opening outside their home, Ohrt said a complaint led the city of Meridian to contact her landlord, saying the business violated city codes.
“I took them down immediately,” Ohrt said.
The experience left Leland with questions.
“It kind of made sense, but it still kind of left a question in my head, like, why?” he told me.
At the center of the issue are two separate sets of rules.
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Idaho’s Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act regulates how homemade products are prepared, packaged and labeled. Meridian’s land-use code regulates where business activity occurs.
The city said preparing food at home does not require a permit if sales and pickups happen somewhere else, but outdoor business activity may require a home-occupation permit. Because Ohrt’s carts operated outside her home, the carts had to come down.
Ohrt said she was worried about what the dispute could mean for her family.
“Am I going to have a situation where it’s gonna affect my livability and where my children live?” she said.
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But after the carts came down, Ohrt said the community rallied around the family.
“It’s been nothing but support,” she said. “I get messages all the time. I’ve had tons of people reach out to me and say, ‘Hey, you should contact this person. You should contact this person.’”
That support helped Bigfoot’s Munchies expand to three locations across the Treasure Valley: inside Flawless Beauty in Meridian, at Gather and Grow Idaho in Boise, and on weekends at The Hohrein Hutch farm stand in Kuna.
For Leland, the growth shows just how far their original homeschool project has come.
“We now have three different locations when we had one in front of our house,” he said. “So that’s like from here to here.”
If you're hoping to start your own home-based business and would like more information on these laws, you can find the links below:
Idaho Direct-To-Consumer Commerce Act
Meridian Home Occupation Accessory Use
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
