What We Can Learn from Chicago
Posted by Christiane Lauterbach | April 27th, 2010 | Filed under Carts
A detailed article in the Chicago Reader entitled “The Food Truck Roadblock” reveals that, much like Atlanta, Chicago feels shut out of a national movement other cities are benefiting from.
“Why can’t Chicago have street food like LA or New York?” asks Mike Nualla.
Substitute the word “Atlanta” for “Chicago” in the paragraph below, and you have it in a nutshell.
Food trucks and pushcarts aren’t illegal in Chicago, but they’re heavily restricted. You can’t do any cooking, cutting, or food preparation of any kind on board: everything must be precooked and packaged in a licensed kitchen. You can’t stop anywhere for more than two hours, and you can’t sell anything after 10 PM. So while a handful of businesses like Edgewater’s Vee-Vee’s African Restaurant are able to operate trucks above the radar, serving prepackaged meals to cabbies and others on the go, others that prepare food onboard are doing it illegally.
Fine-dining chefs with vending aspirations are doing heavy lifting in Chicago. Matt Maroni, who until recently worked as executive chef for the private Mid-America Club, recently pitched to alderman Scott Waguespack a 43-page comparative study of food-truck policies in six other cities and a model ordinance for Chicago that would allow truck operators to cook fresh food a la minute for their customers.
Maroni believes that his concept for a truck–flatbreadswith various toppings like short ribs and pork belly-could work under existing legislation, but his proposal would “significantly liberalize the rules on mobile food dispensers in the language of the city’s municipal code.” In his scheme, “applicants would submit a business plan to the city, including a menu and a blueprint of the truck, detailing specs for equipment, counter space, sinks, storage, waste disposal, ventilation, window dimensions, a power source, plumbing, and a source of potable running water.”
Check out Maroni’s advocacy site (chicagofoodtrucks.com) which will “serve as the online headquarters for a professional association of food-truck operators, where for a membership fee they’d have access to information on everything from purchasing equipment to finding locations and kitchens to operate from” and include a GPS feature that will allow customers to track the locations of their favorite trucks.
[Image by Laura Park from the Chicago Reader]
The Street Food Revolution Has Begun
Posted by Christiane Lauterbach | March 26th, 2010 | Filed under News
Kasim Reed
Kwanza Hall
Hundreds of people, including Mayor Kasim Reed (in a beautiful dark suit and glorious pale blue tie) and Councilman Kwanza Hall (on his bicycle and wearing a nifty Publix backpack) showed up in the parking lot of the Sweet Auburn Curb Market to enjoy the first ever street food advocacy day and urban picnic, organized by the Atlanta Street Food Coalition to promote the cause of mobile food vending. No one fried anything, but the offerings ranging from freshly made pizza to hot soup, virtuous hot dogs, glorious salads, chocolate nachos, creme brulée, waffles, Southern veggies, gourmet coffee, and even dog treats a human could conceivably enjoy paved the way for a joyous street presence of Georgia vendors.
The market staff kept everything neat as a pin. No one got grief for cooking on a truck or selling food from a cute tricycle or a table decorated with spring flowers. NPR blessed us with its presence, and countless media types whipped out microphones and cameras to interview the day’s heroes. Look for more details soon and more vendors making their alfresco debuts in similar events.
Athens More Progressive Than Atlanta
Posted by Hillary Brown | March 26th, 2010 | Filed under News
Image of the Farm Cart from the Athens Banner-Herald
Today’s Athens Banner-Herald has an article about the possibility of the unified city-county government considering expanding the number of permits it issues for street vendors. As is, Athens-Clarke County issues 25 permits total for vendors of all kinds between downtown and the nearby University of Georgia campus, meaning those who would serve us delicious food compete with those who sell hippie jewelry or knock-off designer sunglasses. Competition for the permits is serious, with people sometimes camping out overnight to have a chance at one, but many of those who hold them only set up for home football games. Olivia Sargeant, of the Farm Cart, has asked Mayor Heidi Davison to consider expanding the number of permits and modifying the health code rules vendors must meet to make them more reasonable, and it seems as though the ACC commission might be receptive.
Sargeant’s Farm Cart will be in Atlanta today for the Atlanta Street Food Coalition’s rally/urban picnic at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., where we hope to see many of you.
Delicious Democracy
Posted by Christiane Lauterbach | March 24th, 2010 | Filed under Carts
Paper Kogi Truck
In an opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, two of the founders of the Atlanta Street Food Coalition express their view on the lack of street food in our fair city and comment on the need to “inject vitality and playfulness” into our city’s street life.
Hayley Richardson and Greg Smith write: “The argument is elegant in its simplicity: Changing the rules to allow food trucks to operate here would activate the myriad “dead spaces” throughout Atlanta, generate revenue for our city’s dwindling coffers and provide just the type of small business opportunity that our new mayor is promoting. The supply is here: Many food truck operators are fired up and ready to go, just waiting for the green light from the health department.”
This is the second time in a few weeks (John Kessler wrote eloquently on the subject in his Sunday column) that we have been blessed by the media in our own backyard.
Vote with your feet, Atlanta, and attend the Food Truck Advocacy Day picnic March 26 at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market.
If you haven’t signed our petition, now would be a good time!
“Yelp”-ing About Street Food
Posted by Hillary Brown | March 11th, 2010 | Filed under Carts
Our petition in favor of Atlanta street food (up to 570 signers as of this morning) is getting a lot of attention, including in other cities, and we were recently pointed to this discussion on Yelp that it sparked. Among the issues up for debate: Does Atlanta have enough of a “street” culture for carts to be workable? What kind of food should they serve? Where, specifically, should they go? Thanks, Yelpers, for creating dialogue, and if you haven’t signed the petition, please do!
