The visionary spirit of Jefferson Parish

Ahead of the curve on missing the boat... or the truck as the case may be.

In some cities, including food truck hotbeds like New York and Los Angeles, vendors have faced increased regulatory pressure and criticism from restaurateurs who view their lower overhead as unfair competition. Wendy Waren, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Restaurant Association, hasn't heard any such complaints from the group's New Orleans-area members, and she suggests that's because the local food truck scene is still so small.

  But street food has been controversial in Jefferson Parish. In 2007, the Jefferson Parish Council effectively prohibited food trucks, enacting an ordinance barring mobile vendors from major streets and requiring them to provide restroom facilities. As a result, the Latino-run taco trucks that had appeared around the parish after Hurricane Katrina quickly moved on.

I don't remember too much discussion of "unfair competition" coming from the JP advocates of the ban at the time. Seems like they were more worried about the threat to "public health" and "returning to normalcy". All of which is to say they're about as honest as they are rational over there.