US activists fight to save lemonade stands

It is as American as apple pie and a rite of passage for millions of young people: every summer, children set up lemonade stands in front of their homes or in the parks, sell their wares and learn some sales tricks.

But in recent years, health and safety concerns have prompted police to demand a growing range of permits. In August 2015, the Hamptons police ordered the family of comedian Jerry Seinfeld to close a lemonade stand, due to local regulations. Now the parents are fighting.

Jennifer Knowles' three boys were selling lemonade in Denver, Colorado, when a police officer told them that they needed three separate licenses – leaving William, the "marketing director" of four years, in the floods

She has since founded the advocacy group Lemonade Stand Mama, launched a petition to change local laws and was interviewed on national television.

"I'm trying to make the lemonade stands legal throughout my country," she told CBS News.

She also hopes to publish a book, full of advice and guidance. "I want our children to have lemonade stands without breaking the law," she told The Wall Street Journal.

A libertarian charity in Missouri drew up a list of closed stands to raise public awareness. Dave Roy, director of litigation at the Freedom Center of Missouri, says the forums are protected by the fifth and fourteenth amendments, which prohibit the government from meeting unreasonable limits on private property and ensuring due process.

"I think the constitution covers [lemonade stands] as written," he told the newspaper. "But if there is any doubt about it, let it be repaired."

"We should give the kids a few years to experience a free market and the joys of entrepreneurship before they go to school." they do not feel the crushing weight of the government. said Connor Boyack, president of Libertas Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Utah.

The institute advocated a Utah law, passed last year, which prohibits local authorities from requiring minors' licenses. Similarly, Lemonade Day, a youth-oriented charity focused on youth entrepreneurship in Texas, is lobbying local health services to make changes to the regulations.

At the present time, some regions insist on having three sinks on the production site. Steven Gordon, President of Lemonade Day

Big business even started with Kraft Heinz, who produces a lemonade called Country Time, offering to reimburse young offenders up to $ 60,000 (£). 46,000) in lemonade stand permits and fines.

Adam Butler, Chief of Kraft Drinks and Nuts, said the plan had paid back five fees and fines, averaging $ 200, in his first six weeks.