How To LA

EP #16: The Fight To Legalize LA's Street Food Scene

Juan Espinoza  

One of the vendors on the panel was waiting for approval for two years. [upbeat show music in] He had to hire a designer to submit blueprint designs, get that approval, then get the cart made, and then go back and get approval of the cart made according to blueprint. We're talking about working class communities that make less than $20,000 a year that you're expecting them to go through this blueprint cart approval process to sell hotdogs on the street.

Brian De Los Santos  

From LAist Studios, This is How To LA. I'm Brian De Los Santos. Today we're talking about something very close to my heart, street food. LA has some of the most street food of any US city. I mean, I don't have to tell you how delicious those street tacos are, or how refreshing those raspados or fruitas are on a hot day. But, here's the thing: LA's street food laws are some of the strictest in the country. But in January of 2023, that's all going to change. [upbeat show music out] Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill into law that streamlines the permit process and removes a ton of barriers to access. It's a serious game changer for vendors across the city.

Juan Espinoza  

Street vendors are microenterprise small businesses, they create jobs, they buy locally, they invest locally, they bring more healthy food that's relevant to their communities. This is Juan Espinoza, and I am a part of the Community Development Project at Public Council.

Brian De Los Santos  

For those who don't know, public council is a nonprofit that provides free legal aid to low income communities here in LA. Juan is a homie of mine, and his team worked directly with vendors to make this law a reality. And look, this hits home for me too. I see my tías, my tíos represented in street vendors. And it's not just Latinos. There's vendors in the Black community in Asian communities. To be honest, I feel like street vending is important to just everyone. So I asked Juan, how big of an impact this is going to make for these businesses?

Juan Espinoza  

It's a groundbreaking bill. There wasn't any definition in the California Retail Food Code that included street vending, street food that we know and love that foodies blog about, that is all over Netflix that is all over the world. And yet, California was the last state in the country (one of the last states) to legalize street vending.

Brian De Los Santos  

Juan says LA's super strict street food laws stem from the California retail code. He says the rules and guidelines laid out by that code were biased from the start, based on who was invited to participate.

Juan Espinoza  

The California Retail Food Code was created essentially by affluent white people from Orange County, and the Restaurant Association. Latinos, immigrants, working class communities, they were not in the room.

Brian De Los Santos  

I feel like we've all heard stories of vendors having to pick up their things and run away from health inspectors or police, even facing racism and violence from people who don't want them there. But Juan says vendors knew they were in the right, and they knew they were benefiting communities. So they formed grassroots organizations to kickstart the process that would eventually lead to their legalization. Key walk us through the efforts, just literally like, who was at the table and who wasn't?

Juan Espinoza  

Well, first people at the table were street vendors, knocking on doors in Boyle Heights, asking their local representatives to support them. That was 15 years ago.

Brian De Los Santos  

In 2018, that work paid off and street vending became sort of legal in LA. But pretty quickly, they realized there were other problems.

Juan Espinoza  

When street vending was legalized, what was then realized is that you couldn't get a retail food permit, and you couldn't get a health permit to do the food piece of it. So vendors that were not selling food were largely okay and actually legalized. But food vendors remained essentially illegal and seen as illegitimate.

Brian De Los Santos  

Public Council, and a bunch of other groups like Inclusive Action for the City, Community Power Collective and the East LA Community Corporation, they all worked closely with street vendors to identify possible solutions. In 2021 Public Council and UCLA's Community Development Project authored a report, it outlined all of the different barriers the vendors had identified.

Juan Espinoza  

This example might seem like insider baseball, but that's sort of the point. Vendors know exactly what's getting in their way of getting permits. And when they're included in the discussion, they could actually come up with very targeted solutions. These type of changes aren't just benefiting the vendors because like we said, things that are good for street vendors are good for the broader community too.

Juan Espinoza  

One of the recommendations that came out of that report was you're required to have a Commissary Space Contract where you cook, and you clean, and store your cart. One, there aren't that many available. Usually all those commissary spaces are meant for food trucks, two they're geographically located in very specific parts of LA-like Central LA-like how do you get there? And three, it's expensive, you have to pay 1500, sometimes $2,000 to rent out a commissary space in order to get a health permit. Vendors were like: "Why can't we work with carnicerias? Why can't we work with local restaurants? Why can't commercial kitchens that already exist, that have permits, be a space where we can prepare food, and help us with this commissary requirement?"

Juan Espinoza  

It's actually a really good point. Someone that has this like fancy t-shirt shop that I know, on Melrose, wanted to put up an ice cream component outside his shop. Couldn't get that pop-up approved because of a three compartment sink requirement. How the hell are you going to have a three compartment sink, on a little cart that like you're going to move around and make mobile? Doesn't make sense. Now, if you're the customer going to the t-shirt shop, you can now benefit from the little ice cream pop-up and you can see business flourishing. It's a better experience.

Brian De Los Santos  

But Juan says this new law is intended to be a lifeline for the people who need it most. The majority of food vendors make less than $20,000 a year, and most of them are immigrant women of color.

Rosario Meléndez 

Mi nombre es Rosario Meléndez, vendo el curtido que es la cebolla, y mango maduro que va con limón y chile.

Brian De Los Santos  

So Rosario is this a shorter woman-curly short hair. She sets up her booth at this corner of Kenmore and Third Street. She was wearing a mandil, an apron in Spanish. It was pink and shiny, and all these colors. It looked like she was selling candy, and she was. She's like attracting that energy.

Rosario Meléndez

Toda mi vida, ha sido calle porque mi mami me enseño esto.

Brian De Los Santos  

She tells me that she's been doing this hustle for years. And she actually told me that her mother taught her in San Salvador. I asked her how this law would impact your business?

Rosario Meléndez

A mí me afecta porque, por ejemplo ayer vino los de la ciudad.  Piden el permiso. Yo tengo el permiso, pero a mí no me cubre esto. 

Brian De Los Santos  

She says she does have a permit, but it doesn't cover perishables. The Department of Public Health told her she needed a different cart, and she just can't afford it.

Rosario Meléndez

A veces me dicen que me quite, a veces me dicen que la sombrilla. Que no se que...

Brian De Los Santos  

When the inspectors show up, sometimes they make her leave. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they just bug her about her umbrella. But, she still feels like she has to be on guard. ¿Como ustedes con sus negocios pequeños aportan a la comunidad? I asked Rosario how small businesses like hers contribute to the community?

Rosario Meléndez

Porque hay vienen Salvadoreños que me dicen, "tiene (inaudible word describing a specialty food)?"

Brian De Los Santos  

She told me she tries to sell the things from Central America that people miss the most, things they might only find in Honduras, or Guatemala, or El Salvador, where she's from. [cool music in] This really can make a difference in people's lives because LA is street food and street food is LA. I feel like LA is a city of hustlers you see it on the freeways, you see it on the streets, people selling foods, people selling clothes.

Juan Espinoza  

When vendors would share their stories, and share why they were in the panel, why they were giving so much of their time-walking through the aisles of like Costco while being on Zoom, week after week for eight months, almost all of them were like: we don't want to run anymore. We don't want to go back to a time where we were chased and we had to run away. I grew up on this block in Palm Springs that was like a very Mexican neighborhood that's now been fully gentrified. But, it was basically this immigrant community where we had the like, elotera, the raspado lady, we had Juanita La Paletera. These little cute spaces where kids would congregate, like literally 10/15 little kids running around and sharing a space that was created for them by street vendors. A lot of people in those communities also were undocumented. Members of my family were undocumented. So having treats from Mexico, having things that are culturally relevant, that are part of the repertoire of who we are, for me is so important and valuable. That's the most important part of SB 972. It's making sure that we send the message that street vendors belong. They're a part of who we are, they're part of our communities. And there's now a definition in the California Retail Food Code that includes street vendors.

Brian De Los Santos  

If you want to hear more vendors perspectives, check out our newsletter on laist.com/HowToLA, we'll have more details on what the law says too. This is How to LA from LAist Studios. I'm Brian De Los Santos. By the way, if you're enjoying this podcast, subscribe, and please leave us a review. I know it sounds small, but it really does help us out a lot. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. I'll see you tomorrow. [cool music fades out]