Los Angeles Street Food: a Historical Tour

food vendors are ubiquitous in LA-- but they also trace the city’s roots back to its Mexican and Indigenous origins, through waves of displacement and cultural erasure. Sidewalk taco stands and backyard tamale vendors are currently being seen as deeply political: ICE crackdowns on street vendors have pushed locals to struggle with legalization in recent years. So now the act of selling and eating tacos in public has become a statement about immigration, labor rights, and who gets to claim space in L.A.’s urban landscape <3