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Did you read the article? The health and welfare provisions of the law aren't being contested-just the part where its illegal for anyone other than an establish

by a2tech 14y ago

Did you read the article? The health and welfare provisions of the law aren't being contested-just the part where its illegal for anyone other than an established restaurant or agent of an existing restaurant to operate a food truck. The rules requiring safe food handling and preparation are not the issue.

sk5t 14y ago
Agreed, parent post is battering a strawman, with no bearing on the article at all. On an unrelated note, I don't really get why people get so excited about food trucks. The food isn't any less expensive, nor of necessity any better, than that from a stationary location.
- potatolicious 14y ago
  Food trucks aren't better than gourmet restaurants, but they are substantially better than the status quo in many areas. In downtown San Francisco, where I used to work, food trucks are a huge hit because they are remarkably better than the bad delis, greasy spoons, and franchised soup-n-sandwich joints that litter the downtown core, all of which serve strictly mediocre and uninspired food. People want good, gourmet food even while at work, but the market in many areas has failed to provide this. The extremely sizable real estate capital requirements (as well as the fact that your revenue is strictly limited to lunch-only) prevents a lot of competition from entering. Food trucks on the other hand neatly sidestep a lot of the real estate capital requirements, as well as open the businesses up for dinner-time revenue. Most trucks head off to more residential neighborhoods once they're done the lunch rush. Food trucks also offer an opportunity to change things up often. Off The Grid in SF is a gathering of food trucks at fixed locations, with a rotating lineup (and some perennial faces), which helps lend variety without a bajillion more restaurants opening up.
jusben1369 14y ago
I did read the article. Thank you for asking. Imagine a discussion like this: "People want food trucks!" "Ok, let's allow existing restaurants to roll them out as we know they already have all the processes in place around support for hygienic food preparation and delivery. As for these new food trucks, we'll have to work out how to ensure they also follow these processes, how we'll license them and how we'll tax them so it's a fair playing field." It's not hard to reconcile that with the following opaque wording from the article: "It doesn’t have anything to do with protecting the public’s health or safety – that’s covered in other provisions of Evanston’s food- truck ordinance." So is Evanston regulating food trucks to protect the public's health or are they not?
- davesims 14y ago
  "So is Evanston regulating food trucks to protect the public's health or are they not?" Yes, they are. They also arbitrarily prevent anyone other than brick-and-mortar restaurant owners from operating a food truck. That was the whole point of the article.

by a2tech 14y ago

sk5t 14y ago

Agreed, parent post is battering a strawman, with no bearing on the article at all. On an unrelated note, I don't really get why people get so excited about food trucks. The food isn't any less expensive, nor of necessity any better, than that from a stationary location.

potatolicious 14y ago
Food trucks aren't better than gourmet restaurants, but they are substantially better than the status quo in many areas. In downtown San Francisco, where I used to work, food trucks are a huge hit because they are remarkably better than the bad delis, greasy spoons, and franchised soup-n-sandwich joints that litter the downtown core, all of which serve strictly mediocre and uninspired food. People want good, gourmet food even while at work, but the market in many areas has failed to provide this. The extremely sizable real estate capital requirements (as well as the fact that your revenue is strictly limited to lunch-only) prevents a lot of competition from entering. Food trucks on the other hand neatly sidestep a lot of the real estate capital requirements, as well as open the businesses up for dinner-time revenue. Most trucks head off to more residential neighborhoods once they're done the lunch rush. Food trucks also offer an opportunity to change things up often. Off The Grid in SF is a gathering of food trucks at fixed locations, with a rotating lineup (and some perennial faces), which helps lend variety without a bajillion more restaurants opening up.

jusben1369 14y ago

I did read the article. Thank you for asking. Imagine a discussion like this: "People want food trucks!" "Ok, let's allow existing restaurants to roll them out as we know they already have all the processes in place around support for hygienic food preparation and delivery. As for these new food trucks, we'll have to work out how to ensure they also follow these processes, how we'll license them and how we'll tax them so it's a fair playing field." It's not hard to reconcile that with the following opaque wording from the article: "It doesn’t have anything to do with protecting the public’s health or safety – that’s covered in other provisions of Evanston’s food- truck ordinance." So is Evanston regulating food trucks to protect the public's health or are they not?

davesims 14y ago
"So is Evanston regulating food trucks to protect the public's health or are they not?" Yes, they are. They also arbitrarily prevent anyone other than brick-and-mortar restaurant owners from operating a food truck. That was the whole point of the article.