Alameda County officials are pushing forward a plan to allow home cooks to turn their kitchens into small restaurants — despite resistance from the health department.

County supervisors Wilma Chan and Keith Carson agreed during a health committee meeting Monday morning that allowing people to sell food from their homes is crucial during the pandemic, a time when many traditional restaurants are struggling and laying off cooks. They expressed concern over a rise in illegal enterprises with no way to regulate them, instructing the health department to come up with a plan next month.

“There’s going to be an increased desperation to figure out a way to survive and that’s where the underground economy is going to continue to explode,” Carson said.

California passed AB 626 in 2018, legalizing so-called “microenterprise home kitchen operations” but requiring counties to opt in. So far, only Riverside County has successfully issued permits. A