Current law requires all produce to be pre-cut and packaged, which vendors say reduces freshness and transparency. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
Despite the crackdown from police, other areas of government are offering fruit sellers a reprieve.
When 19 appeared in court this month on charges of unlicensed vending, Cook County Judge Joseph Gump dismissed their cases, Block Club reported.
Zoom in: Chicago's law department tells Axios it reviewed the evidence and "the city determined the cases should be dismissed pursuant to prosecutorial discretion."
Yes, but: Even under an immigrant-friendly mayoral administration, fruit vendors face fundamental hurdles.
State of play: Current law requires vendors to cut and pre-package all their food in licensed kitchens before hitting the streets and forbids seasoning anything to order.
This makes that freshly sliced mango with chile and lime or a custom-seasoned ear of corn with butter and salt illegal.
Vendors say pre-packaging increases waste and reduces freshness and transparency.
The latest: At a recent City Council hearing Maria Orozco of the Street Vendors Association urged local leaders to consider a new law here.
And she's asking at a rare moment of possibility.
"We have been working with [multiple stakeholders] to look at the possibility of updating or creating a new ordinance," Deputy Mayor Beatriz Ponce de Leon announced at the hearing.
"We have very outdated street vendor laws in Chicago. And if you just look at New York or Los Angeles, Houston, there are more options there for street vendors than we have in our city."
What's next: Ald. Andre Vasquez says he's also interested in tweaking the law and hopes to craft something by the end of the year.
