I went around greater LA and found that anyone could by bulk soda and sell it on the street to people. No laws about it, you’d nded them here in Australia. On southside Chicago I think I saw people grilling stuff to serve to the public. Their setup was quite professiona.

14 comments

  1. What you describe probably was actually illegal in most cases, but perhaps that almost further proves the point.

  2. I’m not sure I understand your question. Without knowing what you saw specifically I’d hazard a guess that you were looking at a mix of legally permitted/licensed and illegal “cowboy” businesses. I’m curious what an Aussie tourist is doing in these areas and even more curious what unpermitted soda sales have to do with freedom.

  3. Typically that’s illegal here too, just the police aren’t going to bother with it until it becomes a nuisance.

  4. On the days we have festivals in the city you will see people offering their lawns as parking for the cars and selling bottles of water/soda on the sidewalks close to the festival grounds. No one really says anything since it is a temporary thing.

  5. We’ve also had kids with lemonade stands or bake sales shut down by the cops. The things you saw may not have been legal but were just getting ignored because there’s more important things to worry about at the time. Or some of them might have had permits. Hard to say.

  7. We have street food and street vendors here. Many of them are licensed just like restaurants. Some may not be but the US isn’t a police state.

    There’s a black church in Indianapolis that does weekend BBQ. I don’t know if its licensed or they fall under stuff like the home baker laws we have in Indiana, but its good stuff for a quick, cheap meal.

  8. Unless someone gets sick (unlikely) then no one will care. By rule it’s illegal but there’s much more important things to worry about.

    It makes the news when cops bust up a kid selling lemonade. It’s so petty it’s laughable.

  9. That kind of stuff really isn’t allowed here as well, but there’s usually some more pressing stuff for the police in a big city to handle than someone illegally selling water bottles on the sidewalk.

  10. I think people are getting hung up on your example.

    Something that has been mentioned to me from someone from another country is the ease of starting a business. Filing paperwork to start an LLC is ridiculously simple. There are no restrictions from starting a business if your idea is “not needed”. There is a culture of entrepreneurship that encourages business ventures here and various government agencies to help support small businesses.

    This is totally not a tourist thing, sorry.

  11. The cookout-was it part of a fund raiser?

    That’s pretty common for the VFW, or another fraternal order to have a brat fry, or burgers, or a pancake breakfast to raise money.

  12. What you described is in fact illegal. You cannot resell or sell food without a license. The thing is the cops have bigger things to worry about in LA and south side chicago

  13. It’s technically illegal here as well, but cops don’t seem to give a shit most of the time. I used to go to conventions in Baltimore and there was always a guy selling water in front of the convention center every year. He was a running joke with the attendees he was so prolific.

  14. Where I’m at a lot of ppl sell flowers/ vegetables, fruits and other foods on the streets, they’ll walk around to cars when the lights turn red. Don’t think it’s legal but it’s common

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