UNFINISHED BUSINESS: How Food Regulations Starve Sidewalk Vendors of Opportunity and What Can Be Done to Finish the Legalization of Street Food

The City of LA began issuing its vending permits in 2020, yet it has only issued 165 permits to sidewalk food vendors, even though there are an estimated ten thousand eligible vendors. The report, “UNFINISHED BUSINESS: How Food Regulations Starve Sidewalk Vendors of Opportunity and What Can Be Done to Finish the Legalization of Street Food,” found that a complex web of antiquated and ill-adapted state and local laws are to blame for this mismatch in policy aspirations versus on-the-ground reality.

Public Counsel and the UCLA School of Law Community Economic Development Clinic