Street Food Provides Economic Freedom: Is Success Just a Tweet Away?

from Civil Eats:




Street Food Provides Economic Freedom: Is Success Just a Tweet Away?
August 29th, 2011 By Susie Wyshak


“For folks who have cooked their whole lives, taking business into their own hands with their family by their sides, is a huge risk. But it provides potentially huge freedom,” said Caleb Zigas, director of San Francisco’s La Cocina culinary incubator summarizing the second National Street Food Conference at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

The conference, held August 21-22, united street food entrepreneurs and mobile vending policy makers from around the country to share experiences and insights around trends, marketing, and money. Conversations about freedom, daring, and risk wove throughout each session.

“There’s a transition from street food being something you had to seek out,” said Zigas. “In a lot of ways it’s a trend and vendors are easier to find. Now they’re ‘cartepreneurs.” Communications and urban planning consultant Lizzy Caston said, “Street food changes lives.” With a pulse on the Portland and New Orleans food truck scenes, she observed, “It’s integral to communities and keeping people in the black. Allowing trucks is an efficient way for cities to put economic development funds to work.”

With start-up expenses in the many thousands in San Francisco (that’s just for city application fees) and differing laws per city and per county (making the business expansion Orwellian), the launch into street food can be onerous. Getting permitted is often the major challenge of starting up. “What we’re seeing in cities today reflects the way things used to be,” said author Robb Walsh. He pointed out it was Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle that generated an outcry about sanitation, leading to “a huge wave of legislation that put into effect the health codes that began to regulate street food between 1907-1910.” ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2011/08/29/street-food-provides-economic-freedom-is-success-just-a-tweet-away/

In what they call the mid-town area, just north of downtown they organised a large gathering of street food truck vendors. It was to start at 8:00pm.

Then the state raided it. Agents from ABLE (In charge of alcohol tobacco and charity gaming) went through writing citations and by 8:15 it was all shut down and over. We figure some local business owner has friends in high places.

http://newsok.com/agents-shut-down-inaugural-midtown-food-market-businesses-for-licensing-electrical-problems/article/3598829

This follows up on the raid they had on the city's south side (more Hispanic) where they just went down the length of S.W. 29th street ticketing one truck after another.

Some of the "brick-and-mortar" guys are not taking too kindly to the new way.

Did you ever see the movie "The Van?"

Very funny movie. Wouldn't even think of eating from a lunch truck after seeing that movie.

Health and safety are just PR that bamboozle folks into supporting blatant Corporatism.

worked in a factory many, many years ago. It was filthy!

Then years later I worked part time for some friends who had a taco truck. It was spotless! Had running hot water and all.

I think they have improved over the years.

in both cleanliness and the quality of food available.Here in Oregon you can get everything from escargot to veggie burgers that are as tasty as the * real* thing from a food truck. And some of the ssavvier brick and mortar cafes even have nights where they allow a truck to park in their lot as a come on. The idea is for folks to do appetizers at one and their meal at the other. It's especially popular with some of the pubs that have only a limited menu.