Los Angeles Public Health Workers Threw Out Street Vendors’ Food Because They Didn’t Have Proper Permits

Los Angeles Public Health workers threw out street vendors’ merchandise because they did not have proper permits.

“They should have at least said, ‘Excuse me, you can’t sell your products here,’ but no, they grabbed things and tossed them, and what can we do?” said street vendor Dina about the incident that took place on Saturday.

Dina, a single mother, was starting her day selling empanadas at the Guatemalan food market in Westlake when the officials approached her. “We’re not stealing the product we sell. We go to the market, buy it and bring the product to sell it,” she said. According to ABC 7, most of the vendors were women, and some declined to identify themselves.

The news outlet reports that street vending is completely legal in L.A., but the process has some layers. “If you’re a food vendor, you still have to go through this very rigorous process of getting a county health permit, which is really hard and actually nearly impossible for food street vendors,” said Carla De Paz with the Community Power Collective. She says the start-up costs can run a person about $40,000.

“And we’re talking about people who are making maybe $10,000 a year, you know, 10 to $20,000 a year,” De Paz said. “A cart that’s 700 pounds and that’s 10 feet wide, it’s not going to work, and the city actually restricts the amount of space you can use,” she said.