Love street food? Fancy a food truck? Mobile food operations are attractive to a new generation of entrepreneur because of their reasonable start-up costs in addition to bringing a culinary diversity and vibrancy to the communities they serve. Too bad Riverside and San Bernardino counties are the only counties in California with bans on Mobile Food Facilities.
In 2007, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors upheld Ordinance 580 which was created in the 1980’s to combat illegal street food vendors. At the time, “Roach Coaches” were a prevalent public nuisance and the ordinance served to protect the public from food poisoning, poor sanitation and injuries which occurred when people tried to cook inside moving vehicles. These 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.
San Bernardino County has taken these facts into consideration and will lift its ban on food trucks in June of 2012. These advances in mobile kitchen technologies aren’t enough to sway the Riverside County Board of Supervisors who claim there just isn’t enough demand to address the issue. Unfortunately pressures from traditional brick and mortar restaurants and lack of oversight in the industry are compounding the matter.
The National Restaurant Association recently polled street fare foodies and found that 93% view food trucks as the future of food and not just a fad. The new era of Mobile Cuisine has arrived and it’s up to us to make things happen locally. Contact our County Supervisor, John Benoit, and tell him we want food trucks too. Call Palm Desert: 760-863-8211 Contact: www.RivCo4.org
The new era of Mobile Cuisine is upon us and it is time for our local governments to take notice
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