CHICAGO (Aug. 21, 2015) – Legalizing food carts in Chicago could result in more than 6,000 new jobs and generate as much as $8.5 million in city and county sales-tax revenue, according to a new report released today by the nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute. In Chicago, selling prepared food from food carts is illegal. However, that could change in September if the Chicago City Council votes on a proposed ordinance to legalize food carts.

Chicago currently is home to approximately 1,500 food carts. This burgeoning industry operates in mostly minority, and primarily hispanic, neighborhoods, but is not considered a “legitimate” business by the city. Every day, food cart operators fear arrest just for operating their businesses. Of the largest 25 cities in the country, Chicago and Los Angeles are the only two that outlaw food carts, and Chicago has the harshest food cart ban of any American city.

However, the Institute’s new report, “Chicago’s food-cart ban costs revenue, jobs,” makes the case for legalizing food carts.

“Because of Chicago’s restrictive and oppressive ban, the minority and immigrant entrepreneurs who operate food carts in the city are forced to work outside the law and risk being ticketed, fined or arrested just for selling food from a cart and serving food in their communities,” said Michael Lucci, vice president of policy at the Illinois Policy Institute, and an author of the Institute’s report. “Food cart vendors are offering much needed, and much valued, products to Chicago’s neighborhoods. Allowing them to operate freely with the same rules as other food providers in the city will ensure Chicagoans all over the city can enjoy delicious food while encouraging a growing class of entrepreneurs.”

Highlights from the report:

• Chicago currently has an estimated 1,500 food cart street vendors serving more than 50,000 meals per day.

• Legalizing food carts in Chicago could create:
  • Between 2,145 and 6,435 new jobs in the city.
  • $2 million to $8.1 million in new state sales-tax revenue.
  • $2.1 million to $8.5 million in new city and county sales-tax revenue.

• Food carts are legal in 23 of the 25 largest cities in the U.S.

• According to a survey of Chicago food cart vendors by the Illinois Policy Institute:
  • 55 percent of vendors are women.
  • A vast majority of vendors are minorities, primarily Hispanic.
  • 95 percent of vendors support at least one dependent with their earnings.

“By legalizing food carts in Chicago, the City Council can not only provide a powerful economic impact to Chicago neighborhoods, but it also would legitimize a generation of Chicago entrepreneurs,” Lucci said.

The Institute’s report is available online here: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/reports/chicagos-food-cart-ban-costs-revenue-jobs