Last night I attended a community forum put on by a group of taco truck operators in East Los Angeles. The group calls itself "La Asociación de Loncheros L.A. Familia Unida de CA." The forum was part food festival. Free fare was reason enough to come. I helped myself to seafood tostadas served up by "Mariscos Coliman," a truck that regularly does business on East Manchester between Juniper and Alameda, in an unincorporated part of LA county just west of South Gate. With plenty of lime juice, green onion, and just the right amount of tomatillo sauce, the tostadas were delicious.

The forum was about more than just giving away food. It was also about raising awareness of the positive contribution taco trucks make to our community and others across the state of California. Earlier this year, the County of Los Angeles tried to implement a new ordinance tough prohibitions against the operation of taco trucks. Fortunately, when the county sought to enforce it, the superior court of Los Angeles held the prohibitory ordinance to be invalid. One hopes that the County has seen the light and will let the trucks operate in peace, but one can't rely on hope alone.

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Anyone can sell. You don't need to have a fancy cart and shrink wrapped goods to sell things outside. Nor do you need training in business or public safety. Turns out that all you need is a drive way and some things you no longer need.

With a 20 year boom having come to an end, folks everywhere are looking for quick ways to earn some extra cash. Having gorged ourselves on consumer goods for years, people are now looking to unload them. As I told New York Times writer Patricia Leigh Brown, "This is the perfect storm for garage sales." Ms. Brown wrote an article about the garage sale boom that appeared in the New York Times on Saturday. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/us/25garage.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=garage&st=cse&oref=slogin

Garage sales are another example of open air commerce. Such sales help demonstrate the virtues of selling things outside. Homeowners all over the country are avoiding middle men such as the pawn shop and second hand store and selling things themselves from their own property. The cost savings are passed on to thrifty consumers. It's a win-win for buyers and sellers alike.

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