Model Produce Cart Ordinance

Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables can help kids and families maintain healthy weight and prevent many chronic diseases.

Unfortunately, many people live in “food deserts” that lack full-service supermarkets and grocery stores. In a food desert, where only unhealthy foods are readily available, fresh produce cart vendors (like a produce stand on wheels!) can make a world of difference.

We developed Model Produce Cart Ordinance: Increasing Access to Fresh Produce by Creating a Permit Program for Sidewalk Produce Vendors (and Model Findings) to help create a streamlined permit program to make it easier for produce cart vendors to bring fresh fruits and vegetables directly to a neighborhood. This model ordinance sets forth vendor requirements and rules, and includes incentives local governments can provide to encourage vendors.

Also, be sure to check out our companion fact sheet, Creating a Permit Program for Produce Cart Vendors, which provides an overview of this model ordinance and describes the many benefits of produce carts.