Policy

Street food is both everywhere and nowhere in San Francisco.  You can wander between taco trucks, food carts, pop-up vendors and weekly farmers markets but still not get a real sense of the streets and the community.  And while each of these groups have existed in the city for a very long time, recent social networking websites have given once underground vendors a way to promote themselves and connect with their customers in new and unique ways.

The result is that while street food is experiencing a huge rise in popularity, it’s still very much an informal economy that is struggling to maintain its vibrancy and diversity while coping with city laws and ordinances that have (often) been established to favor the existing tax base of brick and mortar businesses.

The simple fact is that while many people start mobile food carts because it is an inexpensive option for culinary entrepreneurs, the goal of transitioning to fully legal members of the San Francisco business community is full of burdensome financial costs and confusing regulations.

Revised regulations and policies that allow street food vendors greater flexibility in how,where, and when they can sell their goods to reach a broader consumer base can help to activate underutilized space, provide job opportunities to entrepreneurs at all levels of the economic spectrum, and has the ability to provide the city with increased tax revenue and jobs at a time when it would clearly be valued.

On March 8, 2010, the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee had their first public hearing sponsored by District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty on the best way to manage street food in San Francisco from a policy angle. Many of the attendees, including street food vendors, shared their concern about the high cost of entry, how permits are given, their limited mobility and flexibility in locations and times, the inability for vendors to congregate, and the need for the Health Department to review the code requirements so that they are better suited for mobile food vending while still maintaining the necessary health requirements for the public.

This meeting represented a continuation of a fairly extensive internal city conversation that has been going on for the last eight to ten months on an inter-department level within the city. Supervisor Dufty promised to return by May with some legislation for all to review and did not specify what that new legislation would be.

The Recreation and Park Department has recently begun awarding parks contracts to food vendors in Golden Gate Park, Justin Herman Plaza, Civic Center and Dolores Park. Although this is a good first step, there needs to be some recognition from the city of the growing interest in having diverse street food options throughout the entire city and that the city has a responsibility to allow this market to grow.

The San Francisco Planning Department and Police Department are in the process of reviewing their procedures for approving street food vendors and permits.

The Mayor’s Office has been working with the Police Department and Health Department to look at how the existing police code might change, and where the regulatory responsibilities might shift if moved to another department whose mission was to encourage street food entrepreneurship, rather than simply regulate it.

To stay updated on mobile food vending policy in San Francisco, follow the San Francisco Cart Project’s blog.

Please take a look at our Street Food Policy Declaration!

You can also check out the Policy Page for last year’s Festival.