“A Hungry Industry on Rolling Regulations: A Look at Food Truck Regulations in Cities Across the United States” by Crystal T. William is a scholarly article addressing the regulations in regards to food truck operations.
From Chicago to Los Angeles, food trucks abide by different rules due to the cities recent or long-time exposure. Various food trucks still work with the rules designed to regulate ice cream trucks while other cities are caught off guard by the rolling restaurants, allowing them to operate under the city’s standard sanitation requirements. On the other hand due to popular demand food trucks promote change of operating regulations. Maybe seen as a threat to surrounding restaurants, food trucks display characteristics of a hot commodity to the people occupying the city, forcing legislation to change how they allow food truck operators to run their businesses. Historically food trucks have been vibrant in cities across the nation to the point where they are subject to a majority of the same codes as a restaurant and are treated as equals to them. William’s goes into detail about these four topics in his well-crafted article.
The article exemplifies some cities as being behind the time and others as contemporary due to how they respond, or have been responding, to what you might call a fad in the food industry. William’s considers food trucks a trend that is here to stay and as a whole the author gets behind and wants to see a change in how food trucks are recognized. Consequently William’s wishes to inspire change in the outlook of food trucks, seeing them as establishments instead carts. Promoting the change and persuading others to do so is William’s sole argument.
Being someone who is trying to get food trucks on JMU’s campus, I completely agree with Crystal William’s arguments. Food trucks innovate the food industry and should be not only supported but applauded by the public. A truck restaurant exudes possibilities for entrepreneurs and business owners alike, giving way to a new business or an expansion of an old one.
Emily Fjeldheim 