If my ‘hood ever went the way that Los Angeles has, I might actually have to start eating inside!

The Associated Press reports this morning that Los Angeles County has passed a law making it a misdemeanor crime for taco trucks to stay in a spot longer than one hour. The reason?
“Many restaurants are forced to close their doors because they cannot compete with a catering truck’s prices,” said Louis Herrera, president of the Greater East Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. “It’s unfair competition.”

I could reasonably eat all my meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack, outdoors in my hood. There are taco trucks, chimichurri trucks, Ecuadorian food trucks, women with shopping carts selling elotes, churros, something that looks like a cross between ice cream and cool whip (what is that? Can anyone tell me?), women on corners with pots of tamales, baskets of empanadas, piraguas (raspados- or whatever you call them), coco ice cream, grills with whole pig heads, and someone with a shopping bag filled with ice and drinks.

I have witnessed police harass some of the tamales vendors before, but morining streets filled with empty corn husks don’t lie about the popularity (and economy) of street food.

My neighborhood is also filled with indoor restaurants representing most of Latin America. The trucks and vendors don’t stand in front of the restaurants and there seems to be a happy balance. If there something different about Los Angeles culture? Is it, ::gasp:: discrimination?

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