Street Talk

By Christine Li

Though Chicago is the third largest city in the nation and has long held a place of pride in introducing new cuisines and fresh flavors to the rest of the country, it is today far behind much smaller cities in exploiting the innovative potential offered by mobile food.  What can ordinary Chicagoans do about this? We're reaching out to activists, vendors, and scholars working to bring a more vibrant food culture all over the country to understand the most fundamental issues obstructing reform and how we here in the Windy City can fight against them.

 

May 21, 2012

Kristin Casper

 

After graduating from the University of Chicago in 2008, Kristin was working at a regular nine to five job in marketing and advertising downtown.  Longtime Chicago Bear fans, she and her boyfriend Greg were also regulars at the Bear's tailgates in their downtime.  Greg, who holds a mechanical engineering degree from Marquette University, had became something of a legend with the tailgate crowd at Soldier Field with his specialty, homemade schnitzels, throughout the years. So when he lost his job last year, the couple noticed the increasing popularity of food trucks around the country and

Kristin and Greg with the                                  Schnitzel King

saw an opportunity to introduce some crispy German pork sandwiches to their hometown--hence the birth of Chicago Schnitzel King. We met Kristin and Greg at the My Streets My Eats Conference last month, where they were fielding a steady stream of hungry attendees at lunch.  Greg, a terse, efficent operator, barely skipped a beat or varied his voice as he handed a free sandwich to a customer who came back to complain of a mustarded one he had mistakenly been given.  Kristin, the marketing guru and self-described "creative" of the team on the other hand, was a bubbly presence, chatting up customers, bystanders, and what have you, in a deep hearty voice puntuated by ready laughter.  We talked with her about her journey from Greg's tailgate Turano attendent to becoming Chicago's first mobile schnitzel entrepreneur.

 

 MSME: Did you guys have any connections in the food/restaurant business?

Kristin: Our connections stem from my family's background in the meat packing industry. My grandpa started a meat business instead of graduating from college with a buddy of his, and has been in the business ever since. His title now is "Independent Food Service Professional." He is in his late 70s...don't know his official age! He is also now one of Greg’s mentors. He loves to give him his subscriptions to "The Producers Connection"-- the nation's veal newspaper.

MSME: Hilarious! So you knew about putting together the product—what about the mechanics of opening a service business? Kristin: That we definitely figured out on our own, especially as it related to operating a food truck in Chicago. That's a completely different ballgame. The tailgates inspired us: we saw how popular the sandwiches were, although we knew there would be obstacles selling them off the truck because they wouldn't be fresh like they were at the tailgate. First step is the introductory meeting with city hall to review what licensing and permits are required and what the process is to attain those licenses and permits.

MSME: Was there an official guideline?

Kristin: Nope. I don't believe so. I could be wrong but we couldn't find one.

MSME: So you pieced together what you needed to do just by calling city officials and asking around?

Kristin: No, we had to visit city hall, then ask. I don't think a phone call would suffice. But once we had our idea and our truck almost ready to go, that is when we visited city hall. It's so important to visit early and talk to those involved to find out exactly what's required.

MSME: But if there's no official protocol, how were they able to give you directions?

Kristin: Much of it is based off of the current ordinance, which is vague and elusive at best and hard to obtain sometimes; some officials also get the current ordinance and proposed ordinances confused and want something that isn't in the current ordinance, such as dimensions or pictures of the truck. It would be nice if they had an official protocol!

My advice is to persevere through it--I always heard the squeaky wheel gets the oil!

My advice is to persevere through it--I always heard the squeaky wheel gets the oil! We wouldn't have changed our decision though growing up in Chicago we know the city can be difficult.

MSME: What has been most surprising about being a small business owner here in the city and do you have any plans for expansion?

Kristin: The most surprising thing is how uninformed the general public is about food trucks in Chicago--a lot don't even know they exist. And yes, we have inspiration for expansion! Sales have been up and down but no matter what, the people we meet on the streets are terrific and add a lot of joy to the job!

MSME: Do your aspirations include brick and mortar as well?

Kristin: Yes, eventually...we are taking it in baby steps.

MSME: Well, I'm one of the many fans who are looking forward to that.

 

May 16, 2012

 

Sean

Sean Basinski

 

Sean is the founder and director of the Street Vendor Project in New York City, a nonprofit collective dedicated to "creating a vendor's movement for permanent change.

 For us in Chicago, it is perhaps hard to fathom New York City as being a tough environment for street vendors.  After all, can you imagine stepping into a busy City steet without being hit with the olfactory carnival of carts and trucks--the roasted oysters along Pearl Street shorelines, the mustard drenched knishes dished out from Sabrett carts, and what about that steaming Vietnamese pho handed through truck windows?

 New York street food, as Urban Oyster’s Brian Hoffman details, has chronicled the shifting migrant constitution of the city from the very beginning.

 

Check out               this Vendor Power guide !

 Despite this ingrained role in the city’s culinary landscape, street vendors became a target of crackdown during the 1990’s as part of Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s “quality of life” campaign.  Though the campaign banded vendors and encouraged them to start formally organizing for their rights, to this day New York City vendors face the same persistent and powerful interests that lobby for their restriction. 

Sean, who was a featured speaker at the IJ Clinic My Streets My Eats Symposium and Meetup in Chicago, spoke to us about some of these pressures and how SVP has been able to mobilize the community to rally against them.

 

 

MSME: What was the initial impetus for starting the Street Vendor Project?  How was SVP able to mobilize the street vending community and supporters from the public at large?

SB: I started the Street Vendor Project ten years ago, after being a vendor myself, then graduating from law school and receiving a fellowship. I started by walking around and talking to vendors who had been displaced after September 11th. Almost immediately, vendors from all over the city began to appear at our office, with various problems. There was a real need. Individual issues motivate people to come in – that’s easy. The harder part is to get vendors motivated to work on the bigger systemic problems. That’s what community organizing is all about. It takes time. Our meetings now draw more than 100 vendors each month.  We do translation into five languages.  We are getting stronger every day.

 

The harder part is to get vendors motivated to work on the bigger systemic problems. That’s what community organizing is all about.

 

Our main job is to organize vendors, but we also try to mobilize the wider community. One big part of that is our yearly Vendy Awards, which determine the best food vendor in New York, and now also Philadelphia and LA. The Vendys are fun and promote a positive message that everyone can understand. They allow people to support vendors without getting too involved in the messy politics of it all.

MSME: What is the legislative process in New York City for designating/revising street vending regulations?  In your experience, what would you say has been the most effective way for street vendors, community activists, and the broader public to influence the shape of the decision-making?

SB: There are many city regulations governing street vendors. Most of them exist as local laws, which must be passed by City Council and signed by the Mayor. Some are regulations, which can be changed at the administrative level, through various City agencies like the Health Department or Consumer Affairs Department.  Either way, it has been extremely difficult for us – at least under the Bloomberg administration – to get any laws or regulations changed. The bureaucracy has incredible inertia. And, elected officials are usually not predisposed to support vendors. They constantly hear complaints about vendors from people with more power – usually brick and mortar businesses who are more skilled at making their voices heard.

 

The bureaucracy has incredible inertia. And, elected officials are usually not predisposed to support vendors.

 

But changing people’s minds is possible. We go to countless meetings with Community Boards and police precincts and merchant associations, in neighborhoods all throughout New York. Slowly, the word is getting out. We also do a lot of work in the media. Vendors have great stories, if only those stories can be told. Of course, this also takes a lot of work. It’s hard to do without an organization with funding and staff and resources to monitor everything that goes on.

 

MSME: What would you consider the biggest victory in SVP's work so far? What was the key action or strategy in bringing that about?

SB: It’s not easy to mobilize supporters and customers, even though there are millions of people who buy things from vendors daily. Very few people – even the most loyal customers -- have the time to write a letter or attend a protest. But with social media, it is getting easier. In the summer of 2010, Council Member Jessica Lappin announced a bill that would revoke the permits of food truck vendors who received more than three parking tickets. This was a drastic measure, and it happened just as food trucks were becoming very popular in New York. We created a Facebook page,which got tweeted out to the food trucks and then hundreds of thousands of their followers. We got a number of articles in the press. Many influential food blogs also got involved. The bill got no support and was defeated.

The community of people who care about food in New York City is enormous. We’re happy to have their support, whether it comes from their hearts or their stomachs.

 

Regular people who love street food can help. The easiest way is by just talking to your local vendor about the issues and offering your support.

 

MSME: With regards to SVP's current Lower the Fines Campaign, how has the initiative gained momentum with the broader public and where do you see the outcome heading?

SB: I don’t know if we have broad public support, but we have gained some momentum. In 2010, we began working on two bills at City Council that would lower the maximum fines for most vendor tickets from $1,000 to $250. We’ve gotten some good media coverage, made videos, and we’ve also done a great deal of street outreach in neighborhoods around the city. And lots of meetings with Council Members, a majority of whom are now sponsoring the bills. Everyone understands that a $1,000 fine is ridiculous for a street vendor. Especially for a minor infraction like vending a few inches too far from the curb.

Regular people who love street food can help. The easiest way is by just talking to your local vendor about the issues and offering your support. Social media is also a great way to get involved. At SVP we have been spending more and more time on our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

As for our bills, a hearing is scheduled for later this month, and hopefully there will be a vote shortly thereafter. This would be a historic achievement. There have been anti-vendor bills in New York for more than 200 years, but vendors have never been powerful enough to get a law passed in their favor.