Rufino’s Cart
Editor’s Note: The following article was originally published by Margarita Gonzalez from La Talacha on October 23, 2026. If you would like to subscribe to their Substack please click here.
On July 31, 2026, Rufino Jiménez cut the ribbon on a food cart that for a long time had seemed like a distant dream. He invited his children, his wife, relatives, and friends. After 30 years of selling corn on the cob, esquites, and raspados in Echo Park, he finally had a cart approved to operate under health and safety regulations.
“I never lost faith,” Rufino says.
But before that day came years of uncertainty. For decades, many street vendors working on the streets of Los Angeles faced the risk of fines and having the food and merchandise they relied on to support their families confiscated.
The situation began to change after years of organizing by street vendors themselves and community organizations. In 2018, California passed SB 946, known as the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act, establishing a statewide framework to decriminalize street vending. Four years later came SB 972, which amended the California Retail Food Code and created the Compact Mobile Food Operation (CMFO) category, making it possible for smaller food carts to obtain health permits. The law took effect in January 2023.
But winning a law did not mean the carts appeared the next day.
As Anita, a community organizer with Colectivo Poder Comunitario (CPC) who has been part of this struggle, explains, one of the biggest obstacles still had to be addressed: creating equipment that met health department specifications while remaining practical and accessible for people who work on the streets every day.
There were meetings, public comments, coalition work, and direct participation from street vendors. Rufino joined CPC four years ago. He attended meetings and went to City Council to support the campaign. Other vendors traveled all the way to Sacramento. Everyone contributed however they could.
In January 2025, Rufino began the process of obtaining his cart. Then came another wait: about a year and a half of paperwork, permits, and requirements.
Some fellow vendors told him it was all a lie, that he would never receive the cart. Rufino had doubts, too, but he kept going.
He had to complete food-vending requirements and obtain the necessary permits. It is not a simple process. Today, a food vendor in the City of Los Angeles may need a city business registration, a California seller’s permit, a Los Angeles County Public Health permit, and a StreetsLA sidewalk vending permit.
Rufino’s cart, valued at around $9,000, was provided through a city program. The Los Angeles initiative plans to distribute 104 approved carts, which can range in value from $5,500 to $15,000, while also providing assistance to vendors navigating the permitting process.
Rufino now stores his cart at a commissary and transports it to Echo Park every morning. His customers have also begun to notice the difference: they buy with greater confidence when they see a cart designed to meet health and safety standards.
The victory, however, is bittersweet.
Not every vendor has a place to store a cart, a way to transport it, or the resources to cover the associated costs. Although some programs provide free carts and subsidies to cover part of the cost of health permits, access still depends on eligibility requirements and availability.
That is why, for Rufino, receiving his cart does not mean the struggle is over.
“Fellow vendors, don’t stop fighting,” he says. “I’ve been here in Echo Park for 30 years, and I never lost faith.”
His cart is a tool for making a living, but it is also the visible result of years of organizing.
A small victory pushed forward by many hands—and a struggle that continues.
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