In 2015, the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship worked as a member of the Street Vendors Justice Coalition to legalize street food in Chicago. Today, thanks to the efforts of many coalition members, street food vendors and aldermen, a license is available to serve food on the sidewalks of Chicago.
However, our work is far from over. The license stipulates that vendors prepare food in a licensed, commercial kitchen: a shared kitchen. Chicago has strikingly few operating shared kitchens and even fewer shared kitchens in the neighborhoods where vendors live and sell their delicious treats.
With that in mind, the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship and Food Empowerment Design (FED), created a guide to opening, operating and participating in shared kitchens in Chicago. The guide is available in both English and Spanish. To request a printed copy of the guide, an individual consultation about opening a shared kitchen or a workshop for your community group/organization, please contact Stacy Massey at [email protected].
