This morning, Councilmember Nithya Raman led L.A. City Council in considering whether to call on the state of California to make changes to its Retail Food Code, with the expressed interest in making it easier for street vendors to work without the threat of citation, fines, confiscation of materials and equipment, and prohibitive fees. The proposal passed with 13 "ayes," reflecting the full support of the City Council in modernizing the state code.
The suggested changes aim to overturn the code’s current ban on the cutting of fruit, which effectively keeps our fruteros from ever being legally permitted on our streets, as well as bans on reheating or keeping prepared foods hot on a food cart. Suggestions to the code also emphasize an improved process of permitting street vendors that does away with expensive fees and cart requirements that continue to be obstacles for upstart entrepreneurs.
Specific improvements to this California code, which was not created nor intended to include street food vendors, would also define reasonable standards to permit food preparation activities, as well as provide “a streamlined cart inspection and approval process,” with greater discretion given to local health authorities.
"The resolution basically asks that the city of L.A. makes this a legislative priority in Sacramento," Rudy Espinoza, executive director of Inclusive Action, tells L.A. TACO. "It is saying there are some interventions needed in the California Food Code to make sure street vendors have an equitable pathway to get their permits and also affordable street vending carts. That the current California Retail Food Code is impacting street vendors, micro-entrepreneurs, and food retailers in our city, and we want Sacramento lawmakers to make this change."