What is the allure of food trucks?
I mean, how wise is it to purchase a meal from someone who can’t or won’t commit to a permanent business address?
Is it some sort of romantic attraction that brings people to say, “to heck with cooking, tonight I’m eating a sloppy taco off a flimsy paper plate next to traffic?” Or, “I want to experience the feeling of escaped burger fixings oozing down my arm and possibly onto my clothes without a rest room to later wash off in.” Or, “I want the world to witness my overestimated chopstick abilities as I’m trying to dine on a small box of long, slippery noodles.”
But regardless of my observations above, truth be told, I actually don’t mind food trucks.
In fact, I’ll go a step further and say I’ve had some pretty good eats from mobile food vendors.
Since this is my column, I don’t mind naming a few: the Bite Fresh Food truck in Nelson is awesome. In fact, just this year it was named the best place to get a burger in the Kootenay Business Best Places to Eat and Drink Awards.
Here in Salmon Arm, I’ve only tried it once, but I really dig the Hungry Panda. Over in Sicamous, Cathy Barraza used to have (and may still) a Mexican food truck that would have me salivating as soon as I caught sight of it.
And how about the Roots and Blues Festival? Yes, I know it’s about the music. But once I’m on the fairgrounds, the pull of the mobile food vendors is inescapable.
I suppose, for me, the allure of mobile food vendors has to do with the opportunity they provide to try something new, something different and, ideally, something delicious.
I expect others feel the same.
It’s encouraging then that Salmon Arm council is at least going to look into developing a more comprehensive policy for mobile food vendors. Currently, they’re regulated by multiple bylaws and relegated either to parks (Fletcher and the Ross Street Plaza) or private property.
In fact, city staff are opposed to mobile food vendors on public property.
I know food trucks are a potential political hot potato, and despite free-market values that seem to flourish in this area, competitors with an edge (such as limited overhead) can be difficult to swallow.
For myself, there are restaurants in town that I frequent for a reason. They’ve earned my business and I’m not going to abandon them for a quick culinary curb-side fix.
By the same token, if the market will support a food truck or two in the downtown area, instead of the various nooks and crannies around town where they’re currently allowed. Shouldn’t they be allowed the opportunity?
It’s a tough call. Still, I’d bite.
- Lachlan Labere is a reporter with the Observer and the Eagle Valley News in Sicamous.