Well, howdy! Today, we’re talkin’ about something that gets a lot of folks riled up—food safety and so-called “illegal” street food vendors.

Now, before you go thinking I’m about to start some kinda crusade against folks trying to make a living, let’s break this down and look at the real issue here.

The Truth About Food Safety

Here’s a fact most folks don’t know—the number one cause of foodborne illness in America isn’t restaurants, grocery stores, or food trucks.

Nope.

It’s home-cooked food!
That’s right.

Most food poisoning cases come straight from people's own kitchens.

But you don’t hear about that on the news, do ya?

You don’t see headlines that say, “Little Timmy’s Mom Gave Him Salmonella with Undercooked Chicken.”

Instead, you see restaurants getting blasted for making four people sick, shutting down for a day, and then reopening once the health department does their little check.

Now, let’s be real here.

A restaurant or food truck gets a bad batch of meat or someone doesn’t cook something properly, and BAM—it’s on the news, social media, and everybody’s talkin’ about it.

Meanwhile, thousands of folks are getting sick at home from poor food handling, but no one’s reporting on that.

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The “Illegal” Street Vendors Debate

So, someone asked me about “illegal” street vendors, you know, those folks who are out there slingin’ food from a Harbor Freight cart or some homemade setup.

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Are they really illegal?
Well, that depends.

Some are vending without a permit.

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Some are in areas where the city has flat-out banned food carts (usually to protect restaurant owners).

And some, well, they’re just trying to survive and make a living however they can.

I’ll tell ya this—just because a city says something is illegal doesn’t mean it’s right.

Plenty of towns and cities in America have banned food carts to protect their brick-and-mortar restaurants.

That’s a fact.
And guess what?

That’s a direct violation of federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

The Institute for Justice and the ACLU have taken on cases where vendors have sued these cities and won.

Every.
Single.
Time.

Because here’s the truth—if a restaurant owner doesn’t want competition from a street food vendor, then maybe they should step up their game instead of crying to city hall to get vending banned.

Just sayin’.

Are Street Vendors Really Unsafe?

A lot of folks assume that just because a vendor isn’t officially licensed, their food must be unsafe.

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That’s simply not true.

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Most street vendors operate right out in the open.

You can see how clean their setup is, how they handle the food, and whether or not they’re following basic food safety practices.

Meanwhile, go stand outside a public restroom sometime and watch how many people actually wash their hands after using it.

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I’ll wait.
It ain’t pretty, folks.

And those are the same people cookin' dinner at home or working in fast-food restaurants.

Now, don’t get me wrong.

I believe in food safety 100%.

But I also believe that if someone is out there trying to make an honest living, providing good, clean food to customers, and the only reason they’re “illegal” is because of some anti-vendor city rule, then I ain’t losing any sleep over it.

When Illegal Turns Legal

I know a lady in Nashville, Tennessee who couldn’t even speak English when she started.

She got her daughter to help her communicate, bought a hot dog cart, and started vending at night when the health department wasn’t around to hassle her.

She did so well, she bought two more carts!

And eventually, she went totally legit.

So was she “illegal” at first?
Yeah.

But did she hurt anyone?
Nope.

She just found a way to work within a system that often makes it harder for people to get started than it should be.

Focus on You

At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is focus on yourself.

Run your business the right way.

Follow good food safety practices.
Be kind to others.

If someone else is vending without a license, don’t let it distract you from your own success.

Most of those folks are just trying to get by, and honestly, in a world where giant corporations get away with all kinds of shady business, I’m not gonna waste my time worrying about a guy selling tacos from a homemade cart.

So, take care of your own business, keep things clean, and treat your customers right.

That’s how you build a successful vending business.

I love ya.
Thanks for being here.
Talk soon!

Watch Full VIDEO Here…