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Food

Town Hall Meeting Will Discuss Legalizing Street Food Vendors [UPDATED]

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Residents of Mac Arthur Park are expected to conduct a second town hall meeting to put pressure on the City of Los Angeles to legalize street food vending this month.

Though Los Angeles is known for its rich street food culture as showcased by our annual Street Food Fest, the sale of food items on sidewalks is currently illegal. (Remember that little incident in 2008 when the LAPD cracked down on the bacon-wrapped hot dog carts on Hollywood and Highland, forcing them to throw everything into garbage trucks?)

The town hall is aiming for regulations that are similar to that of cities like New York or Chicago.

Community residents are coming together to persuade Los Angeles City Council to immediately implement a policy that will provide a licensing process for vendors to sell street foods without fear of penalization.

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Originally scheduled for this week, the town hall is slated to take place on August 30.

What do you think? Should vendors be able to sling street meat without fear of being penalized? Or do they deserve the same regulation as brick-and-mortar restaurants?

UPDATE 8/28/12
The Town Hall meeting will take place on Aug. 30. Here's info on when/where:

When: Thursday, August 30, 2012 from 6pm-8pm.
Where: Central American Resources Center (CARECEN) 2845 W. 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90005.

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