UPDATED: LOYOLA PARK BEACH OPEN FOR BUSINESS

FOOD VENDORS NOW WELCOME ON LOYOLA PARK BEACH!

CORRECTED/UPDATED - The Bench mistakenly said yesterday that this vendor was not licensed. In fact, there is a tiny permit on the cart. This only reinforces The Bench's assertion that Chicago Park District is selling out to push cart vendors along the beach.

This is great news for food vendors in Chicago.

This vendor set up shop on Saturday, May 24 at the south end of Loyola Park on Chicago's north side.

The vendor was back on Sunday, May 25 and Monday, May 26 - and why not? There's money to be made selling chips and soda and hot dogs at the beach.

This adds a whole new dimension to Rogers Park's already famous dining scene. And now - apparently - anybody can just set up shop on the beach! How long will it be before the Park District allows 20 more vendors onto Loyola Park's beach?

According to Chicago Park Concessions Management, to sell food you need several things. Their web site says, "Each concession must have at least two (2) persons certified with the Chicago Dept. of Health Certified Foodservice Manager Certificate." The Bench observed several periods when the vendor had only one person tending the food cart.

Public Health Notice

A message from 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore:

Hey Neighbor,

The Chicago Department of Public Health notified me today of ongoing incidents that occur in our community. One example is this:

On Monday, August 13 several plywood carts were seen being pushed by unlicensed food vendors in 7400 block of N. Clark Street and other locations as well. A number of residents have called 311 and my office to complain about these unlicensed, illegal, unsanitary food vendors in the past. The vendors are given a free pass on their various health code violations by the City of Chicago. The food items they sell should be sent to the Department of Health and, according to standard procedures, sent to a laboratory to be tested for food born diseases. But they won't be, because neither the Mayor, the City Council nor I really give a shit about these illegal food vendors, or about your health. In fact, a good buddy of mine rents his rotting, filthy garage space just north of Morse Avenue in the alley just west of N. Greenview to several of these illegal vendors, and he's a partner in a local restaurant. He doesn't give a shit, either.

In other news, there was a rabid bat found in the neighborhood recently. The odds of you being bitten by a rabbid bat are extremely small. The odds of one of your neighbors getting sick from an illegal food cart are far greater. But the rabid bat story is more sensational, and the City of Chicago does not grant sanctuary to illegal bats.

While it is not uncommon for rabies to be found in wild animals, it IS common for food born illness to be found in illegal, unsanitary, unlicensed, uninspected food carts, particularly in the summer months. We should all take appropriate precautions. Public health officials advise us to make certain our pets are vaccinated for rabies and that the public at large and our children in particular are instructed to never handle dead animals. Should you encounter a live, injured or confined illegal food vendor or other wild animal, do not touch it.

Please call 311 for assistance and/or instructions on how to dispose of the elotes ("corn") safely. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact your Congressman and Senator and ask him/her why undocumented, unlicensed, unregulated, unsanitary food vendors are allowed to compete with more scrupulous, tax paying restaurants.

But don't bother me about. Like I said, I don't give a shit.

But Michael James Knows NOW...

Michael James's vermin-infested push cart garage

Michael James has no more excuses, despite what his protector and political officer Katy Hogan screams on the street corner. 

On June 12, Craig Gernhardt reported on his blog that Michael James, co-owner of the Heartland Cafe in Rogers Park, was renting a five-car garage to the people who operate those little plywood pushcarts, selling Mexican corn and mayo to unsuspecting people on the street.  

The next day, June 13, I ran into Gernhardt at Common Cup, a cafe on W. Morse Avenue in Rogers Park. As we sipped coffee outside, an agitated Katy Hogan dashed across the street to confront Craig. Hogan gave me a dirty look, then blasted Craig. 

Katy Hogan and Michael James
(photo credit: John Sturdy, Chicago Reader) 

Hogan, James's partner in the Heartland Café, asked Craig why he linked the questionable operation of the pushcart garage to the Heartland. Craig correctly answered that he didn't, he simply (and accurately) noted that the owner of the garage is a well known local restaurateur. 

Hogan yelled that Michael James should not be held responsible for the operation, since he "didn't know" what was going on in the garage he owns. Well, it's been a month since Craig broke the story. 

Michael James certainly knows about this operation by now, yet the filthy operation continues. We watched a pushcart lady docking her plywood cart in the garage a few nights ago. 

Now that Michael James, co-owner of the Heartland Café, is fully aware that food is being stored in his uncooled, unsealed, filthy rat-filled garage, what will he do about it? 

Our photos here, taken on July 11, show how decrepit the rotting garage is. Vermin can easily get into the structure. Food is stored in there, food you or your neighbors eat. Elotes, anyone? 

RELATED: 

• Analysis: Systemic Filth at Heartland Cafe, Rogers Park  
• Oysters - To Chew or Spit at Heartland Cafe  
• Filthy Heartland Cafe Closed for Health Code Violations   
• Michael James Gets Bent Out of Shape 
• Heartland Employee Calls Neighbors Assholes 
• Roaches Found In Rogers Park Restaurant - WMAQ Chicago
• The Heartland in Crisis - Chicago Reader (2010)

Illegal Food Vending, Distribution Uncovered in Rogers Park

Must-read report at Broken Heart reveals that local businessman and restaurant owner Michael James is allegedly a partner of some of the unregulated street food cart operators in Chicago. (Photos by T.H.Mannis. Click to enlarge.) Alleged food safety violations, under-the-table payments and more, with great photos. This could develop into quite a scandal. Michael James is also a partner in the Heartland Cafe and the No Exit. Craig Gernhardt's report is stunning. In part, he writes: From the looks of things, Michael James is allegedly running a unsanitary food storage distribution network from the back of his home at 1509 West Lunt. That's right, a food cart storage facility right there in Mr. James old, five car garage. And some storage facility he offers his vendors. The garage door is so old and rotted, the wood door has big gaping holes for easy rodent access. From the evidence I've been able to uncover, there are a two dozen or more, half full - gallon jugs of liquid syrup and sticky unwashed dispensing cups all over the place. The Michael James Food Storage Company LLC uses all their cramped space, even storing sticky syrup on the oily old concrete garage floor. FULL REPORT... RELATED: Filthy Heartland Cafe Closed for Health Code Violations (13 March 2009)

Smorgasbord of Sickness

''When you look at the conditions on these carts and you have patients coming in, complaining about them,'' Dr. Lucchesi said, ''it strongly suggests there is a problem.'' From the New York Times, an article about hygiene, sickness and sidewalk food vendors. The familiar stainless-steel carts are small and lack basic kitchen equipment, yet roughly 40 percent of New York's vendors handle foods that can be hazardous, according to city figures. Many show up in the morning with tubs of raw meat and poultry, which can carry disease-causing bacteria. Food is often left unchilled and unheated, ideal for the growth of E. coli, salmonella and other germs. And some vendors wash their hands so seldom that they use their sinks for storage space. Tests arranged by The New York Times on a random sampling of chicken, burgers and kebabs from vendors' carts showed significant undercooking in 39 of 51 cases -- meaning that bacteria would not be eliminated. Experts say it is a potentially dangerous combination: risky fare, poor facilities and unsafe handling. FULL ARTICLE...

Street Food Vendors and Disease Transmission

In a paper titled, "Street food vending in Latin America," the authors detail disease transmission and food sold by street vendors in Latin America. Below is an excerpt from an abstract of the paper. Arambulo P 3rd, Almeida CR, Cuellar J, Belotto AJ. [authors] PAHO, Veterinary Public Health Program, Washington, D.C. 20037. Despite occasional attempts to repress it, street food vending in Latin America appears to be on the rise....Besides placing a hidden burden on public services, the generally unregulated and quasi-clandestine street food industry tends to observe poor hygienic practices and to pose significant public health problems. Within this context, Latin America's cholera epidemics have drawn increasing attention to street food's potential for disease transmission and have created growing support for attempts to resolve these troubles... FULL ARTICLE at PubMed PMID: 7858648 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Danger on the Streets

An informative article about street vendors and food safety from the World Health Organization (WHO). The article, "Street food boom in Ghana spurs calls for better hygiene," could be about food vendors and fool safety anywhere in the world. But one cannot help but notice that the rules in Ghana make more sense than they do in Chicago.

Street food vendors provide cheap meals for thousands of Accra’s citizens but concerns over foodborne diseases have led to efforts by the Ghanaian authorities to improve food safety and encourage vendors to adopt more hygienic practices.

Street vendors like Tawiah in Accra say they were unaware of the dangers until they attended the workshops and could unintentionally have been poisoning some of their customers. “Vendors were horrified when we told them that their food was potentially hazardous,” said Keith Tomlins, a food safety and quality scientist at the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom. At the moment, the city authorities grant permits and health certificates to vendors after medical screening of vendors and testing of their knowledge about food hygiene. FULL ARTICLE...