From Roach-Coach to I Heart Fruit Cart I think we’re all privy to the fact that this whole food truck phase was sorta derived from the Hispanic/Latino culture. These street vendors have been posted on the corners of our skyscraper dense districts for years, slinging some pretty awesome tacos. This being LA, someone eventually came along and realized what a profitable and lucrative business opportunity these mobile eateries offered and had the where-with-all to capitalize, spawning quite a robust industry. Now, a few years later, our streets are bustling with trucks catering to all different styles of food –Vietnamese, Japanese, Southern –very few of which remain to be run by their Latino ancestors. No I’m not selling you a sob story, it’s not like they had a paten on to-go dining (remember Go-Gurt, those people had to be white). In fact, despite losing this taco race, the Latino culture still had something to fall back on, something that no whities could ever hi-jack, the Mexican Fruit Cart. You know the ones, always haphazard, precariously trembling down the disheveled sidewalks of Korea Town or perched at street corners in the scorching heat of the summer providing commuters with a cheap and refreshing (not to mention healthy) treat as they make their traffic littered drive to Downtown. Well, those days of authenticity are gone. I introduce to you the I Heart Fruit Cart cart. It’s shiny, colorful and has a cutsy name that rhymes. This cart –which you can find on the streets of Venice (Abbot Kinney) –sells all organic fruit from local farmers, hand picked and packed up in a cute little plastic container (100% recyclable) sealed with a heart shaped sticker every morning. Yuuummmy. Don’t worry, they’ve still got their lime and chile toppings if you want make it… ethnic. Owners, April and Brad Kanfer (stop judging, I know you’ve met plenty of Latino Aprils and Brads in your life…right?), are New York natives and have had family in the service industry for over 20 years. I know what you’re thinking, and no, these are hard working people, in fact, April is a “celebrity wardrobe stylist,” says so right on the web site. Brad is probably a Chef (I bet he cuts the fruit). Yes, it’s twice the price. Yes, it’s sooo LA. Yes, their rainbow colored font and the set of strawberries on their logo look like a pair of balls. But hell, I don’t think they’re actually stealing anyone’s business. They’ll stick around Abbot Kinney selling their over priced (probably delicious) fruit to people who have never even seen a Mexican person before, let alone make it to Korea Town. Good fruit is good fruit.
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A Vigilante's Guide to Culinary Injustice
