taco truck culture in los angeles: wendy

•The Gentrification of the Taco Truck•Who Eats Where and Why

A Presentation by Ethno-Journalist Wendy Carrillo

Food as Social Justice

A Photo Music Slide-Show for Your Viewing Pleasure

Timeline

On April 15, 2008, The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a harsh food truck regulation for unincorporated county areas.

Parking a taco truck in one spot for longer than an hour is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, or six months in jail, or BOTH.

ImpactLargely affected, would be the community of

East Los Angeles, whose taco truck food culture is not only entrepreneurial, but it is largely the way in which many families eat healthy, non fast-food.

The Debate: SoundbitesTaco trucks are unfair competition to

"legitimate brick-and-mortar businesses." Taco trucks “prohibit a community from

moving forward.”"It just makes the community look like

there's no order." “They can try to move us, but we're not

going to go… what are they going to do? Take us to jail?”

Organizing Savy Tech guys Aaron Sonderleiter

and Chris Rutherford formed SaveOurTacoTrucks.org & organized an online petition to gather support to oppose the county regulations.

Using Facebook, web 2.0, grassroots, paper flyers and phone banking, volunteers organized the Loncheros

The Asociación de Loncheros La Familia Unida de California formed in 2008. Its mission is to protect the rights of catering food truck owners/operators.

Gourmet Food on the Go Bursting into the scene, KOGI BBQ Taco Truck in November

2008, offering Korean BBQ tacos for $2 each Uses twitter to let followers know “where they will be next” More than 60,700 followers, $2M first year April 6, 2010 owner Roy Choi voted “Best New Chef” by Food &

Wine Not just a hipster trend, but about feeding people quality

affordable foods

Picture Courtesy of Time Magazine

1st Annual Street Food FairFebruary 13, 2010Pulitzer Prize food critic Jonathan Gold, “Los

Angeles is the best place in the world to eat at the moment.”

More than 20,000 people showed up to the Los Angeles Center Studios lot where more than half were turned away.

@LAFoodFest was all a-twitter with complaints of long lines, hours of waiting for a cupcake and overall lack of organization.

90+ Food Trucks on Twitter A street food revolution? Maybe

@KogiBBQ Largely considered the "granddaddy" of food trucks [LAist Story]

@ButtermilkTruck Your breakfast diner on the go! [LAist story]

@GrlldCheeseTruk Chow down on all varieties of grilled cheese sammies [LAist story]

@nomnomtruck Vietnamese-French fusion sandwiches & tacos [LAist Story]

@LA_FuXion A group of Latino/Asian friends get together to serve up Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Latin American dishes [LAist Story]

@Frysmith Fries with delectable toppings [LAist Story]

@locali: Locally conscious frozen sweets via their Icycle [LAist Story]

@coolhaus: Architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches. It's LA's intellectual and extremely yummy treat! [LAist Story]

@getshaved SoCal's Finest Shave Ice [LAist Story]

@thegastrobus a "roadside bistro" with affordably-priced sandwiches and salads [LAist Story]

Some number-crunching about LA's massive mobile munching scene:90 mobile eateries are listed28 of them have been profiled in stories on LAist7 originated as brick-and-mortar restaurants/stores6 serve Korean tacos2 that are coming soon3 new additions all specialize in crepes4 ways to keep track of them1 that's already given up

Gourmet Trucks in TroubleGourmet food trucks critics, such as restaurant

owners, have complained about the same issues that have affected Loncheras – they take business away, particularly from Santa Monica and Mid-Wilshire neighborhoods.

Several gourmet food truck owners have banned together and formed:

Street FoodHow Do They Work Together?

One is being hailed as a “food revolution” while the other has historically provided affordable Mexican regional food to families in low income communities of color.

The Food Truck ImageCouncilmember Paul Koretz, “A lot of businesses in stationary, permitted locations feel it’s unfair competition, and I tend to agree with them. There have been problems with these trucks popping up in front of businesses and people’s homes. They’re less of a nuisance in one lot, but I’m not thrilled with that either. I think they work well at construction sites where it’s difficult for workers to have access to other food, but I think that should be their only place in the city.”

Boyle Heights Farmer’s Market

Working ‘Day & Night’ on Farmers’ Markets

Councilmember Jose Huizar introduced City legislation in 2009 to institute a pilot program in Boyle Heights to open an evening Farmers’ Market that sells open-flame food. The Councilmember worked with the community, law enforcement and City and County departments to develop the plan in order to deal with the over-proliferation of illegal open-flame vending, which is a health hazard, while giving vendors willing to adhere to safety measures the opportunity to sell their food. In early 2010, the City Council approved the plan and details are currently being worked out. The Councilmember is also moving forward with a plan to open a more traditional daytime Farmers’ Market in Boyle Heights.

Picture courtesy of Flikr

You Are What You Eat:Gourmet or Lonchera?

In the Works:

Mobile bathrooms for food truck lots

Food Network Food Truck show will take the most popular food trucks on a “competition adventure” across the country competing for a cash prize.