F or a while, they were called taco trucks, perhaps because people preparing Mexican food saw the wisdom of being mobile food vendors before other folks. For whatever reason, these food trucks now cater to about any taste imaginable: fish, barbecue, burgers, Asian cuisine; the list goes on.
Some are parked; some move to where the hungry congregate. All in all, they add to the fabric of life and for a price that might be a bit more affordable than a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Considering all that, we were pleased to read that a committee of the City Council gave an enthusiastic thumbs down to the idea of requiring food trucks to run off of generators rather than be plugged into an electrical power supply.
Why the concern over where the power comes from? Well, there are two reasons given, but it would not seem that both can be plausible at the same time. One reason was that the current ordinance on the matter needs to be enforced. The other was that the current ordinance needs to be amended so that the new verbiage requires the generators.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
It wasn’t hard to see through the haze that some brick-and-mortar restaurant owner or owners likely had gotten someone’s ear at City Hall to request the change. Making the food truck operators buy generators would maybe knock a few of them out of the business and not create so much competition, we figure the thinking was.
To that, the three council members on the committee rose up to say, no, we aren’t for that, with Council Member Joni Alexander saying that if that demand was made, many of the vendors would indeed have to quit the business. Why, she said, are we making life harder for people who have paid their city fees and passed muster with the state Health Department?
We agree. The public speaks with its feet and pocketbooks. Sometimes, people want to get out of the heat or cold or go where it’s quiet and have a sit-down meal. And sometimes, it’s gimme a pulled pork sandwich and some baked beans and slaw, please, and I’ll sit over here in the park and enjoy the nice day.
There’s room for both services. Look around. Little Rock has huge numbers of regular restaurants. But it also has so many food trucks that there is a festival just for them — and it’s been going on for a decade.
We should encourage food truck operators, not throw unnecessary stumbling blocks in their way. In short, let’s leave these folks alone and let them thrive.