THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2014
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LAWRENCE
PAGE 7
Food trucks struggle with city laws
LAUREN KATZ
news@kansan.com
With only two food trucks in town, Lawrence is a tough place for mobile food vendors to get business going, especially in comparison to cities that are making it easier for the industry.
Lawrence has strict limitations on when and where food trucks can operate. No more than two mobile food units may operate at the same time on any single property. Mobile food vendors are also prohibited from selling on a single property for more than three hours at a time.
Exceptions were made last month during Lawrence's first food truck festival. Community members hoped the festival would spark more acceptance of mobile eateries after residents had a taste of the food truck fair. The festival featured six trucks—five from Kansas City, Mo., and one from Lawrence. Proceeds from the
event benefited the Douglas County food bank, Just Food.
Food truck culture has been successful in many cities, such as Austin and Portland, but is just beginning to make its way into smaller, less populous cities such as Lawrence.
"At one time there were quite a few [people] that wanted to have these food trucks and we had meetings." Diane Trybom, acting city clerk, said. "We just came up with the license for mobile food vending and we haven't had a lot come in since then."
Jeremy Farmer, CEO of Just Food and vice mayor of Lawrence, attributes the lack of food trucks in the area to that fact that many Lawrence community members are unfamiliar with the concept of food trucks. He also said that there is a fear that food trucks will create competition with restaurants.
"Downtown is a very highly entertainment- and restaurant-driven
strip, and food trucks have typically not been a part of the conversation just because we have such a great selection of locally owned and operated restaurants," Farmer said.
Additionally, food trucks have hit the college campus scene. The National Association of College and University Food Services estimates that there are at least 100 food trucks operating on campuses around the country. However, there are currently none on the University's campus.
The co-owners of The Blissful Bite, the first food truck that came to Lawrence in 2012, said they have found some success but still struggle with city policies such as the lack of access to vend in many locations.
"Last year we started to experiment with it and have learned a lot along the way within trying to make it work in town and on what the city regulations are, and that's one of the big hurdles," said co-owner Jason Hering.
Specialty dessert food truck Torched Goodness is the other mobile food vendor in Lawrence that arrived just last month. Torched Goodness had four years of success in Phoenix, serving over 30 different flavors of crème brûlée ranging from chocolate to raspberry lemon.
The owner of Torched Goodness, Julia Ireland, said the truck was a vendor on Arizona State University's campus and served weekly truck lunches.
Hering said The Blissful Bite co-owners plan to work with Torched Goodness on catering and on changing the current restrictions on mobile food vending. Both the Blissful Bite co-owners and Torched Goodness owners have also discussed vending on campus, but have not yet approached the University.
Hering, Ireland and Farmer said they would like to see food truck culture thrive in Lawrence.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Torched Goodness, a food truck serving creme brûlée, is the latest addition to Lawrence.
"I think it would be sad if we continued to say no to new and cool and progressive ideas all because we didn't want to change," Farmer said. "I think we would regret that 20 years down the road."
— Edited by Amelia Arvesen