Food truck enthusiasts, rejoice! We have a new voice on the County Board of Supervisors whose campaign promised to “Free The Food Trucks.” His name is Kevin Jeffries. With his election to the First District which includes Lake Elsinore and Riverside, it appears that there is now sufficient support to rescind a thirty year ban on food trucks in Riverside County – the only County in the state that does not allow food trucks.
Only six years ago, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors upheld Ordinance 580 which was created in the 1980’s to combat illegal street food vendors. When the ordinance was originally passed, ‘roach coaches’ were a public nuisance. The ordinance served to protect the public from food poisoning, poor sanitation and worker injuries which occurred when people tried to cook inside moving vehicles.
Current food trucks are not the ‘roach coaches’ of yesteryear. Public safety concerns have been addressed by combining a little more common sense with today’s mobile commercial kitchen capabilities including the installation of monitors that ensure proper food temperatures, hand sinks and ware washing facilities. Many are culinary labs providing unique food offerings that might be future candidates for stationary locations.
Where restaurateurs once viewed food trucks as having an unfair cost advantage over their brick and mortar locations, many of those same people now see food trucks as a great marketing opportunity. At ShareKitchen, we view food trucks as a great stepping stone where entrepreneurs can begin their food businesses and existing restaurateurs and reach beyond their four walls.
Get involved by signing the online petition in support of food trucks initiated by ShareKitchen’s new friend Stacy Wiedmaier at www.sharekitchen.org or www.facebook.com/ShareKitchen. Join us in asking County Supervisor, John Benoit to join Kevin Jeffries in allowing food trucks in Riverside County and the Coachella Valley.
