Minneapolis weighs permit system for unlicensed fruit vendors

CATHY WURZER: Now, chances are, if you spend time around busy intersections or parks in the Twin Cities, you've seen one or two people selling fruit and other treats from a cooler to the public. While it is illegal to sell homemade food to the public without a license, the city of Minneapolis is considering a new permit system for the Ecuadorian asylum seekers who have few other ways to earn money.

Sahan Journal's Alfonzo Galvan has been reporting on this issue, and he's here to explain the city's plans. Alfonzo, thank you for making the time. Could you just start by painting the picture for me? When did this issue first come up in the Twin Cities?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Yeah, so the issue really blew up last year, I would say. May 2023 is when we first started seeing people in intersections, particularly the Walker Art Center, Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis, different locations, parks, Minnehaha Falls, areas like that.

CATHY WURZER: And what risks are city officials concerned about with unlicensed food vendors?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Well, first, it's a safety risk. A lot of them, they're selling in medians. They're selling in traffic. Other than that, it's health risk. With some of the food, it's not properly stored. And one council member even told me that he's worried that there could be issues with labor trafficking going on, because we don't know who's out there selling. We don't know if they're selling and keeping the money themselves, or if they're giving the money to somebody else.

CATHY WURZER: You say in your reporting that most of the vendors are asylum seekers from Ecuador who don't yet have legal right to work. Can you just tell me more about that limbo period for people seeking asylum?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Yeah, so a lot of these people, when they get to the country and they're seeking asylum, they have to wait a certain amount of time, usually six months before they're granted a work permit, before they're able to legally start working, making money. So in that period of time, many of these people, they're looking to find a way to make a living, to put food on the table.

In many cases, the men, they're able to find manual labor jobs, they go do that. The women are typically the ones that struggle because they also have to take care of children. So finding a job for them and finding childcare becomes a little difficult. Street vending is an easy solution because they can go make money and they can have their children with them. In many cases, you see people selling fruits, gum, candy in the street, and they might have like a baby strapped to their back while they're doing that.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah, it makes sense. What would these vendors need to do to legally sell fruit in the park as the law stands now?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Well, it depends on the location they want to sell. Because, for instance, if you want to sell in a park in Minneapolis, then you have to apply for a daily permit through the Minneapolis Recreation Park and Board. Other than that, if you want to sell around the city, then there's different licenses that you have to apply to. You have to get a license through the City of Minneapolis. There's different requirements. It all has to do with the storage, with the health department, with different codes that you have to follow, different regulations and equipment used.

CATHY WURZER: And of course, to access those, you need to know where to look and you need to access them in a language you can speak. So Two city council members are drafting a proposal to make a legal path for vendors to continue doing what they're doing. How would that proposal work?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Yeah, so there are two council members-- Council Member Chaudhry and Jason Chavez are proposing to create a new license or permit for these vendors to get them to be able to get that license or permit to sell their food.

Particularly Council Member Chavez has told me that the paperwork required for these permits or license is going to make it accessible for some of these asylum seekers that might not have all these documents. Even lack of social security numbers won't stop them from being able to apply to a permit to legally vend in Minneapolis.

CATHY WURZER: How are other city officials responding?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Well, so far, the two council members I've spoken with said that their colleagues seemed to be supportive. And it seems to be issue that everybody wants to see resolved. Same thing with Minneapolis parks, it's an issue that they've kind of been dealing with for two years now. As long as there's a solution in place, I think everybody would be happy.

CATHY WURZER: And in our last 30 seconds, so what are the next steps to make the proposed permitting method a reality?

ALFONZO GALVAN: The next step, I mean, the proposal is still-- the ordinance proposal is still in the early stages. You're going to see probably a draft come soon, make its way through the City Council, through the different committees. The goal for them, I'm told, is to have this in place by the Spring, so by the time that street vendors once again start popping up and selling food.

CATHY WURZER: OK. Alfonzo Galvan is a reporter for Sahan Journal. And you can see that full story at sahanjournal.com. Thank you, Alfonzo.

ALFONZO GALVAN: Thank you again for having me.