The Saints Go Marching In?

For a long time in Los Angeles, the feeling was that street vending was a third world activity, not worthy of the Anglo version of LA that emerged in the mid-20th century. Thank the Lord, that might be changing. The last time I was in the city, there was a vibrant truck culture (listen to my report for the Food Programme over here), but it felt regimented — the opposite of spontaneous. The trucks were all the same size (a health and safety thing to do with regulation height off the ground, number of handwash basins and size of serving hatches), and the scene needed a bit of West Coast mellow. Read this piece in the New York Times (thankyou Felicity Spector) and let me know if you reckon it’s the dawning of a new era.