Moveable Feast

Lead Ten years ago, Waterford had five sit-down restaurants and two fast-food places. Now, we have eight sit-down restaurants, four fast-food places, and a take-and-bake pizza place. That's called progress. Beginning Paragraph Citizens can choose from Mexican, Italian, Chinese, and Thai foods as well as all kinds of American fare. But what about tapas or tabouli or tandoori chicken? What about food options in the new industrial park, which employs over 500 citizens but lies four miles outside of town? Position Statement One simple change to our city laws can provide all of these options on a level playing field: a carefully crafted food-truck ordinance.

Answers to Objections As soon as the word "food truck" enters the conversation, the objections begin. Restaurant owners in Waterford have the strongest objections. Facts and Statistics They pay property taxes as well as a $650 per year restaurant license fee, but they suddenly must compete with someone who has no property tax and a $60 mobile license. The answer is well-crafted legislation. Mobile licenses can neither be cheap nor prohibitively expensive, but rather must be balanced. Also, mobile vendors should be prohibited from operating within 100 meters of a brick-and-mortar restaurant that serves the same kind of food. Middle Paragraphs These provisions prevent direct competition for customers and parking spaces while providing new food options to citizens. In addition, food trucks provide a walking meal, not a sit-down one, so they fill a different niche in the food-service ecology, diminishing direct competition. Some parents worry that fast-food trucks will park beside schools, drawing students away from cafeterias and to deep-fried, high-caloric fare. The ordinance can also have restriction zones around schools, keeping all food trucks 100 meters away, and trucks serving unhealthy foods farther still. Others worry about the mess created by patrons discarding wrappers and other debris on the streets. The ordinance should require food trucks to provide their own trash and recycling receptacles and display a sign urging patrons to use them. Beyond that, patrons must obey the city's existing ordinances against littering. For each serious objection to food trucks, the answer is not an outright ban but rather a sensible food-truck ordinance that creates a level playing field while increasing consumer choice.

Reasons (Topic Sentences) A sensible food-truck ordinance would bring Waterford to a dining revolution that is sweeping the nation. These aren't your father's food trucks, which offered overpriced ice cream or questionable hot dogs sloshing in brine. Many modern food trucks are chef-run specialty shops that delight foodies and first-timers alike. Examples Curry dishes from India, Cajun jambalaya from New Orleans, and crepe creations from Paris are just some of the many amazing offerings. How about some Middle-Eastern shawarma? How about some Japanese sushi? These delicious offerings provide no direct competition to existing brick-and-mortar restaurants here in Waterford. In fact, such food trucks generate their own market. Foodies flock to them, and others learn to seek a culinary adventure rather than settling for their ham sandwich brought from home. The proliferation of reality-TV shows about food trucks—including Food Truck Faceoff, The Great Food Truck Race, and Oprah's own Wingmen—demonstrates the popularity of the movement. Food trucks will generate their own followings and attract newcomers to our city through a vibrant foodie culture.

In addition to generating an all-new food market in our city, food trucks provide a new opportunity for entrepreneurs. Most people cannot afford to open a full-blown restaurant. However, excellent cooks could afford to buy and equip a food truck and create employment for themselves and others in town. Anecdotes A friend of mine has taken classes to become a baker and has created her own home bakery business. If she got a food truck, she could expand her business to provide gourmet cupcakes and donuts for the workers arriving in the morning at the new industrial park south of town. Another friend is a genius with homemade soups and stews, and she could ladle savory bowls of chicken and dumplings on cold days next to the building sites on the outskirts of town. Most food trucks employ at least two people, creating new income for local entrepreneurs, which therefore creates new local spending, and attracts new residents. Our city is growing. A reasonable food-truck ordinance would allow one more avenue of entrepreneurial growth and a richer banquet for diners.

We have many reasons to craft a balanced ordinance allowing food trucks, but the most important reason is ideological: competition and free markets. Logical Arguments The arguments against food trucks are largely protectionist, seeking to limit competition within the food-service industry. Limiting competition in a capitalist society reduces choice, decreases quality, and raises prices. Also these attempts to limit competition of course come from those who currently control the market. If these folks were in Washington, their attempts to sway lawmakers to prohibit competition would be seen as special-interest lobbying. That's exactly what it is here in Waterford, too. Few citizens would agree that good legislation comes from special-interest lobbying that results in protectionist policies for those special interests.

Ending Paragraph Ernest Hemingway once described Paris as "a moveable feast," because the cultural experience of living in the city would travel with him wherever he lived. Waterford is no Paris, but we have a chance to bring a moveable feast of cultural experience to our city. We can do so through well-crafted food-truck laws that prevent unfair advantage but also establish a right to compete on a level playing field. Predictions The foodies who already live in town would show up in droves for shish kabob and sauerbraten, and new patrons would become avid and adventurous diners. The workers at the industrial park would welcome the change from bag lunches. The workers at the construction sites around the city would as well. And local cooks of all stripes would find a new business opportunity to explore their passions and support their families. The benefits of food trucks in Waterford are many, and the drawbacks can be minimized by solid legislation. So, get behind a sensible food-truck ordinance, and get ready to enjoy a new, moveable feast.