Cooking food at home shuts down Sacramento vendors. This could change the rules
When Jocelyn Torress Grimaldo and her husband opened their food truck Vagos Street, they poured all their savings into the business.
The two purchased a food truck, quit their jobs and invested in upgrades to their home kitchen, where they planned to prepare the food they would sell.
They opened in January and held a big party at Torres Grimaldo’s home, celebrating their business’s launch with close friends.
After the celebration, a code enforcement officer shut down Vagos Street, telling them they weren’t allowed to cook food from their home and that they needed a health permit to operate, Torres Grimaldo said.
“It’s a little bit disappointing that you don’t have people with you, information with you,” Torres Grimaldo said. “...You’re completely alone in this country. It’s like a city of opportunity, and you’re having like nothing.”
In Sacramento County, food vendors must prepare their food in a licensed kitchen separate from their vending stand or truck and adhere to new regulations the Board of Supervisors implemented in January. These regulations have set stricter health guidelines and require vendors to operate under a business permit.
Vendors must get their kitchens approved as well as their stands and trucks. They’re not allowed to prepare food at home and must have their licensed kitchens inspected to meet health regulations, said David Contto, a business consultant with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The nonprofit runs a boot camp to help vendors clear regulatory hurdles.
In Sacramento County, street food vendors often use ghost kitchens. However, these spaces are costly. As a result, vendors face financial barriers in starting their businesses, Contto explained.
“A lot of people don’t have access to a commercial kitchen to be able to sell their food,” Contto said. “And this is something that for some families, that’s their main income, that’s all they have.”
Vagos Street, which sold tacos, corn and a variety of Mexican drinks, used to operate out of Torres Grimaldo’s home in Elk Grove. Torress Grimaldo said she made sure they had everything they needed: a city permit, a seller’s permit and a business license, and even asked someone with the City of Elk Grove if anything else was required. A health permit was never brought up.
Many aspiring vendors have faced similar issues like Vagos Street, Contto said. But there is a possible solution: for Sacramento County to allow Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO) for vendors. Having a MEHKO permit allows vendors to sell food directly from their home kitchens, as long as they pass a food safety examination, Contto explained.
“The meat of what the program does, it allows you to turn your kitchen into a commercial kitchen where you can actually sell meals from your home, or if you have a cart, you can cook them there, transport it over there and sell it on the street,” Contto said.
To be allowed in Sacramento County, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors would have to vote on a measure to opt-in into the statewide program, Contto said. If approved, MEHKO permits would be allowed throughout all of Sacramento County.
When Torres Grimaldo’s business was shut down by the city of Elk Grove, she was connected to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“This is their only source of income and (they) haven’t been able to work or provide for their home ever since,” Contto said. “They invested all their savings in a food truck that we are now trying to get the permits, but they don’t have a commissary which is a requirement. This is where they would greatly benefit from MEHKO.”
What is a MEHKO?
In 2018, California passed the Homemade Food Operations Act, which approved a statewide program to allow one kitchen operation so vendors wouldn’t have to rent ghost kitchens or purchase food trucks.
MEHKO kitchens are most cost efficient, Contto said. The price of renting a commercial kitchen annually is around $45,000, according to Cook Alliance, a nonprofit focused on home cooking businesses. A MEHKO only costs around $1,000, Cook Alliance states.
“(MEHKO) creates an inclusive pathway that empowers entrepreneurs and allows informal food economy to come out of the shadows,” Cook Alliance stated. “(They) supports access to fresh, healthy and culturally appropriate food opportunities, especially those in living food deserts.”
The County of Los Angeles Public Health, which utilizes MEHKO, said there are a variety of benefits, including creating a more equitable pathway for immigrant business owners into a formal economy, they stated in an informational video. Food from a MEHKO must be prepared and served the same day it’s been cooked, Los Angeles county added.
When it comes to vendors, the Los Angeles Public Health Department stated MEHKO can serve as a “commissary kitchen,” accessible to mobile food. Those with a MEHKO permit are also mandated to undergo training on preventing food-borne illnesses in their cooking, Los Angeles County stated.
In Los Angeles County, some MEHKOs have earned up to $100,000 annually, the Health Department stated. There is a cap to business operations however. Businesses with a MEHKO are only allowed to sell 30 meals per day, with a maximum of 90 meals per week.
The Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will also guide vendors on what specific cart they need to cook their food. Depending on the food a vendor is selling, whether it be hot dogs or raspados (shaved ice), vendors need a specific cart and equipment that properly reaches the temperatures to cook the food fully. For example, a taco vendor would not have the same cart as a paleta (ice pop) vendor, because both foods are cooked and stored at drastically different temperatures.
Cathy Rodriguez Aguirre, president and chief executive officer of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said vending is the only way some people can generate income.
“We also understand that it is very much a cultural asset to have these businesses out there,” Rodriguez Aguirre said. “It does add to the community as a whole, and I think we see from the long lines they have, that a lot of people enjoy it, so it’s important to be able to support them in that way too.”
Torress Grimaldo will be attending a boot camp class this month, where she said she’s figuring out what next steps are for Vagos Street. She said that she’s looking at renting a restaurant kitchen. But for now, it’s a work in progress.
