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Facebook/Mr. Faulkner’s Old-Fashioned Hot DogsJaequan Faulkner at his hot dog standCity invests in 13-year-old’s hot dog business
by Harvest Prude
Posted 8/30/19, 11:40 am
An entrepreneurial 13-year-old hoped to earn money for school clothes by selling hot dogs, chips, and sodas in front of his Minneapolis home this summer. But someone sent a complaint to the city’s health department because Jaequan Faulkner’s stand was technically illegal without a vendor’s license.
What did the city do? Instead of forcing Faulkner to close up shop, city officials gave him a hand up. Health inspectors taught him about proper food-handling techniques and provided him a tent, a hand-washing station, and a meat thermometer. They even paid the $87 fee for a 10-day short term food permit. Minneapolis police officers picked up the tab for his next permit. Jaequan’s uncle, Jerome Faulkner, who helps his nephew, estimated they sold 100 to 150 hot dogs to a hungry lunch crowd every day.
Dig deeper: From the WORLD Magazine archives, read Sophia Lee’s report on how the government usually responds to small food vendors—with overbearing licensing requirements.
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Harvest Prude
Harvest is a political reporter for WORLD's Washington Bureau. She is a World Journalism Institute and Patrick Henry College graduate. Harvest resides in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Twitter @HarvestPrude.
Comments
OldMike
Posted: Sat, 08/31/2019 04:10 pmEntrepreneurship is great, individual initiative is great, and this young man should be encouraged.
But food safety is very important too. I’m very glad Minneapolis authorities have handled this in the manner they did.
Janet B
Posted: Sun, 09/01/2019 01:20 pmSo it was really the people who worked for the city who gave the hand-up?
Good show!