The new law was drafted by the Department of Public Health. It requires vendors to update their carts to include designated hand-washing stations and refrigeration— which could cost them fifteen thousand dollars or more.
Vendors who sell hot food will have to rent space at city-approved commercial kitchens to prepare it. That could cost up to twenty-four hundred dollars a month.
Solinda Parraga sells fruit on 16th and Mission. She told KALW she’ll have to choose between the new cart upgrades and paying her rent.
Parraga said, “It’s a real struggle being out on the street—exposed to the wind, the dust, the cold, and the heat. Sometimes we stand on our feet all day just to earn about 50 or 60 dollars; and every penny goes toward paying the rent and the bills.”
The ordinance is meant to bring the city into compliance with SB 972, a 2022 state law that decriminalized street food vending, while also creating new rules about how vendors operate.
She said, “What they are planning to set up for us is very expensive. I am simply asking that they lower the standards and requirements they are imposing on us,” Parraga told KALW. “Because if they are expecting us to meet standards similar to those of a restaurant, that entails a significant cost— an investment we would have to make.”
Many vendors in San Francisco are worried about what enforcement will look like for those who can’t comply quickly enough.
They're also frustrated that the city left out the Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation or (MEHKO) program.That would have allowed vendors to prep their food at home.
Neighboring counties like Santa Cruz, Alameda, and San Mateo all chose to adopt the MEHKO program when they began enforcing SB 972.
No one from the Board of Supervisors or Department of Public Health responded to KALW's request for comment.
