Level up your Monday social and culinary scene this summer with the addition of Grazing Rights to your weekly calendar. Grazing Rights is a summer event series bringing food trucks to public parks, this summer being held in May and Mike Yokel parks, giving locals a chance to enjoy great eats during the busy tourist season.
Every Monday a rotating selection of food and drink vendors will be serving their specialties in a park starting at 5 p.m. All ages are welcome, and free books will be provided by Teton County Library. The Grazing Rights Series will run from Monday through Monday, August 18. Be sure to follow @grazingrights on Instagram for location, vendor rosters and other pertinent information.
Grazing Rights is the brainchild of local foodie, Matt Donovan who started this series in the summer of 2022.
What gave you the Grazing Rights idea?
It was a strange brew of all the problems the pandemic created for both locals and tourism with concerns to food access, the way it was being represented in visitor surveys and local news media, and the most crucial part – the fact that there weren’t any ideas on how to improve any of it.
I wanted to come up with something that prioritizes locals. I met up with anyone who would give me the time: the Chamber or Commerce, the TTB elected officials, you name it. And when I was buried in info, I made a dichotomy with objective info gathered from the media and these meetings on one side, and then loaded the other side with opposites.
Primary was the fact that everything was conversational. No proposals or ideas were in action.
Next was full focus on the problem. The Cliff’s Notes on articles was, “yep, it’s still pretty rough out there. Now back to a picture of a moose crossing the road to distract you from your hour long takeout wait.” I wanted to be solution-driven for our community.
Everyone was concerned about what might happen to the tourism-driven economy if these issues worsened. If tourists have a bad time and they tell their friends not to come here, then we REALLY have problems, right? Downtown brick and mortars were front and center. That’s a two-part aspect, because brick and mortar aren’t the only food service options, and we have all these gorgeous greenspaces where we’re supposed to go to gather that are nowhere near their capacity. Most of them are not downtown.
Grazing Rights is the inverse of all of these. By offsetting local volume in restaurants with an alternative dining experience away from downtown in a space with virtually no capacity, there’s potential there to create significant benefits for both the local and tourist experience. There’s bolstering of local businesses with a three to four month operating season (food trucks), and a chance to reconnect a community that was just rounding the corner on intense social isolation.
What food trucks are you most excited for this summer?
I’m partial to the newly rebranded truck from The Bird, because we’re family and we keep it so simply delicious. (Donovan has been a server at The Bird for years.) Gaijin Sushi blew minds last year, and they’re back at least twice. A brand new Mediterranean truck by Istanbul Bistro shows a lot of promise for a grossly underrepresented ethnic cuisine. My kids would live off Luis and Jessica’s STREET TACOS from the orange bus if they could. I’m also excited to have Provisions and Sagebrush Grille. Their food is a reflection of the quality of people they are-top shelf.
What’s been challenging about running an event like this and what’s been rewarding?
In my opinion, the civic process for special events is fractured, at best, and it could benefit from a full revamp. The police department is now the special events department in addition to serving and protecting the community. The fee structure alone is a construct of discouragement, much less the gauntlet of forms and formats. The base cost to run an event is over $1,000. That is without hanging a sign to advertise, vending, or using a public park, each of which add layers of cost.
If an event is recurring, like ours being eight weeks, each one requires its separate reservation and license per occurrence under the umbrella of a single event permit. I submit applications in four formats to five different departments. It is not for the faint of heart. If you want to do something cool in Jackson, you really gotta want it. And if you can do something cool here, you can do it anywhere.
This year will total 85 dinner parties since 2021, and over 10,000 meals have already been served through this program. That part is metric. But the best part for me, the greatest benefit, can’t really be quantified. And that is creating a template for inclusion and community development by improving both the local and tourism experience simultaneously. Grazing Rights improves quality of life.
How has Grazing Rights grown through the years?
In 2023, I ran the program three days a week for 12 weeks. I was permitted for, underwrote, marketed and executed 36 events in one summer on top of holding a full time job and being a father and husband. That was too much for everyone. I’ve streamlined it a little every year, to the point where now it’s static in it’s venue and schedule.
As soon as the playground is complete in Mike Yokel Park, we’re gonna move over there to see if it’s a good fit. Infrastructurally, it’s night and day from May Park, where it’s been since it started. May Park doesn’t have built in bathrooms, let alone a playground, volleyball court, horseshoe pits, or pavilion. I am excited to see if we can make it work over there. If not, there’s always Mondays In May.
