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n s rrwts and veggies on me move" delivered fresh fruits and vegetables to 1,200 youth at 21 summer playground sites. <br />and video games, so it just didn't seem <br />to make sense to have them eating pro- <br />cessed ice cream," he says. "We want <br />to control what kids eat in our parks," he <br />adds, emphasizing that he's seeking ven- <br />dors who will offer healthy alternatives to <br />sugary drinks and the like. Weitzel es- <br />pecially likes the idea of carts and trucks <br />because they're mobile. "They can go <br />away when activity slows down, and they <br />don't carry the expense of installing per- <br />manent concession stands," he says. <br />Just to the south in Philadelphia, parks <br />officials are also considering food carts <br />as they seek ways to increase income <br />streams. "For us, the conversation be- <br />gins with getting more money directly <br />into the park system," says Alexander <br />(Pete) Hoskins, chair of revenue en- <br />hancement for the city's Commission <br />on Parks and Recreation. "This is an op- <br />portunity for the department to be more <br />entrepreneurial." <br />As park systems continue to struggle <br />with budget cuts, the need to be creative <br />about revenue is pressing no matter how <br />little such programs add to the pot. "Food <br />carts don't generate that much for us, may- <br />be a few hundred thousand dollars," says <br />Phil Ginsburg, director of the San Fran- <br />cisco Recreation and Park Department, <br />where food truck offerings range from <br />Chinese buns to Filipino burritos. "But that <br />helps keep our rec centers open and gar- <br />deners at work in our park. Every dollar <br />earned is one we don't have to cut " <br />70 Parks & Recreation DECEMBER 2011 WWW.NRPA.ORG <br />Shawn Rogers, who handles per- <br />mits for Portland Parks and Recreation, <br />also observes that adding food vendors <br />to the mix has "not been as lucrative as <br />we might have liked." He says parks face <br />pretty serious competition from parking <br />lots and city streets, which charge cheap- <br />er fees for their food licenses. <br />And some cities, like New York, don't <br />get to keep what revenue they do raise. <br />"For us, these vendors are largely an <br />amenity, another reason to stay in the <br />park," Benepe says. "The money we get <br />from concessions is, for the most part, de- <br />posited into the city's general funds." <br />In Philadelphia, Hoskins says he is try- <br />ing hard to ensure that once a vendor plan <br />is in place, all or most of the resources <br />