From tacos to churros, there has been a recent boom in the emergence of local street vendor stalls. Beyond the sweet smells and the hospitality of those who staff them, stories emerge about the danger and complexity of selling food on the sidewalks.
Recently, the number of stalls and trucks has increased in several Southern California counties. For many vendors, this is the result of competition and the need to expand to different locations and to face the many fears of street vending, such as city sanctions, and competition among themselves.
The popularity of street vendors grew exponentially in Los Angeles last summer, due to Tik-Tok. A veritable food vending paradise sprang up in Lincoln Heights, which city officials shut down in August. Not a new phenomenon in California as a whole.
In Riverside, vendors show up almost every night in fear of being out of work. Valente, who specializes in tacos, said he wants to avoid any kind of conflict with city officials, as business has already been affected by the pandemic. He and his colleagues commute Tuesday through Sunday from South Central Los Angeles to Riverside because of the growth of taco stands in Los Angeles, they have had to spread out to neighboring counties to make ends meet.
"With the pandemic, it's actually been harder every day," Valente said. "There's more competition and less work for us, but we're still here trying to keep selling. It's the day-to-day necessity. If we don't get out there, there's nothing there either. There's a lot of competition, and we try to stand out."
For many, street vending is their main source of income, but the anxiety of being sanctioned hangs over them every day.
Valente says that in Anaheim he was accosted by police officers for not having a permit. They threw away all the food that was to be sold that day.
"(The city) will take your stuff," Valente said. "That's the fear more than anything. In Anaheim it happened. We lose everything. We lose our profit day."
These problems for vendors are a recurring theme. In Fontana, just a few cities away from Riverside, they have been faced with a new ordinance: last month's update of Municipal Code Amendment No. 22-001, in a 4-1 city council vote, which will give all city employees the authority to enforce Department of Environmental Health regulations on street vendors in Fontana.
Many said that obtaining a permit is nearly impossible because most do not qualify to apply for assistance or permits.
Some have criticized the ordinance as a way to further target them without seeking a way for them to obtain permits to set up legally. At a town hall meeting on January 25, several street vendors, community members and organizations such as the ACLU and CCAEJ, spoke out against the ordinance.
"I am surprised that key stakeholders are not included when initiatives like this are brought forward," Ana Gonzalez said at the city council meeting. "I urge the city council to table this issue or just get rid of it altogether because as our colleagues have said, ACLU and other attorneys agree with us that this is a very discriminatory ordinance."
Beginning in 2022, California allows street vending with a permit. On February 10, California Senator Lena Gonzalez introduced Senate Bill 972, which supports California's street food vendors and removes barriers, making permits more accessible to the community.
"These workers, however, have not had access to the documents they need to be able to work and support their families," Gonzalez said. "This is due to California Retail Food Code policies that make it difficult for them to access local permit systems."
Senate Bill 972 will likely make these authorizations more available to street vendors and ensure more sanitary and safer food preparation.
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