On a sunny weekend in August, Brittany Rosas homed in her food options near Minnehaha Falls.
Several vendors were offering fruit slices with chamoy and tajin, fruit-flavored water and fried wheat pinwheels also known as chicharrones.
As Rosas purchased a cup of lemonade for her two kids and a bag of chicharrones, another customer bought a cup of watermelon for $5 from a nearby vendor.
The unlicensed vendors were clustered in the high-traffic area near Sea Salt Eatery — and they kept a wary eye out for park police. None wanted to speak on the record.
The vendors began appearing at busy parks and highway medians more than a year ago. Efforts by park police and city officials to issue citations only led them to temporarily retreat. Many are asylum-seekers from Ecuador who don’t yet have a permit to work legally in the U.S.
The city first attempted to address the issue in 2023, according to Minneapolis Health Department spokesperson Scott Wasserman who said they worked with St. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church holding educational classes on how to become a licensed food vendor.