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 |  The Cinnamon Snail sells vegan sandwiches, burgers, and pastries. It has a rating of 4.5 on Yelp and 722 reviews. West 33rd Street & 7th avenue, Manhattan, NY 10005 |
| Wafels & Dinges sells Belgian waffles and has many locations throughout NYC. All of the carts' average rating is 4.5 and has 1,471 reviews all together on Yelp. 66th Street - Lincoln Center New York City, United States of America |
| Wafels & Dinges sells Belgian waffles and has many locations throughout NYC. All of the carts' average rating is 4.5 and has 1,471 reviews all together on Yelp. 42nd Street - Bryant Park (B,D,F,M) New York City, United States of America |
| Wafels & Dinges sells Belgian waffles and has many locations throughout NYC. All of the carts' average rating is 4.5 and has 1,471 reviews all together on Yelp. 81st Street - Museum of Natural History (B,C) New York City, United States of America |
| Wafels & Dinges sells Belgian waffles and has many locations throughout NYC. All of the carts' average rating is 4.5 and has 1,471 reviews all together on Yelp. Central Park-Center Drive New York, United States of America |
| Nuts 4 Nuts sells natural honey-roasted nuts. This location has a rating of 4 and 35 reviews on Yelp. West 46th Street New York, United States of America |
| Nuts 4 Nuts sells natural honey-roasted nuts. In this location, it has a 4.5 rating and 7 reviews on Yelp. W 42 St / 7 Av New York, Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika |
| Nuts 4 Nuts sells natural honey-roasted nuts. This location has a 4.5 rating and 11 reviews on Yelp. 5th Ave & E 72nd St New York, NY 10021 |
| Rafiqi's sells halal food. This location has a rating of 3.5 and 34 reviews on Yelp. 52ND St And Park Ave New York, NY 10022 |
| Rafiqi's Delicious Food sells halal food. This location has a rating of 4 and 57 reviews on Yelp. 44TH St And 5th Ave New York, NY 10036 |
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In the busy streets of Manhattan, mobile food trucks are one of the main places where people get their food. Breakfast carts, halal carts, hot dog carts, and ice cream trucks are just a few examples of the variety we have today. We did not have such a wide range of food trucks before. In the early 1600s, immigrants had chuck wagons and pushcarts instead of modern mobile food trucks.[1] The concept of food trucks has not changed much since the 1600s, except for pushcarts not having any cooking equipment. Even though, it is only one change, it is a huge significant change. This meant that they could only sell items that were prepared beforehand in comparison to today where all the food is cooked on the spot. Some of the foods that were sold on pushcarts were clams, oysters, and fruits.[2] Immigrants were the first ones in the United States who used them as a platform to sell food and miscellaneous items to make a living.[3]
The early mobile food trucks that first showed up in the 1600s were called pushcarts.[4] Dutch immigrants in New York City, also known as New Amsterdam at the time, sold food and other items with them. These immigrants who operated the pushcarts were called pushcart peddlers. The next form of mobile food vending was chuck wagons.[5] Chuck wagons were mobile kitchens, invented by Charles Goodnight in the mid-1800s, made for the purpose of feeding his cattlemen.[6] He redesigned a surplus US Army wagon by attaching a chuck box to the back, which was used as a cooking surface when folded down and when it was not folded down, it was used as storage for cooking equipment and easy-to-store food like coffee, beans, cornmeal, bacon, potatoes, biscuits, and salted meats.[7] There was also a water barrel attached on the side.[8] While the chuck wagons were crucial in the development of the modern mobile food trucks, pushcarts did not disappear. Pushcarts were still sources of cheap lunches for the working class. They were, however, also looked down upon because of their unsanitary conditions. It was not until 1936 that William Fellowes Morgan, Jr., the President of the Middle Atlantic Oyster Fisheries, attempted to change this industry for the better. “The enclosed market simply represented the latest approach in a decades-old effort by various civic, political, and business interests to conquer the ‘pushcart evil,’ regulate street commerce, and extend Progressive Era crusades for a beautiful, clean, and efficient city.”[9] This attempt obviously did not really turn out well since hygiene problems still existed until the 2000s.
Hot dog vendors started appearing in the late 1800s near areas like Coney Island and East Coast universities and ice cream trucks started appearing in the 1950s.[10] As a result of these ice cream trucks being sought after by little kids and teenagers, mobile food vendors began increasing in popularity.[11] However, the growing concerns related to hygiene eventually prevented them from flourishing in the food industry.[12] People were concerned about the unsanitary conditions and started calling them “roach coaches.”[13] This view was finally changed during the 2000s when many chefs were laid off due to economic decline.[14] When these chefs were left without a job, they decided to either work at or start their own food truck business. One of the main reasons for this action was that it was cheaper to open a mobile food vending business rather than a permanent restaurant.[15] Inspections and regulations also started having higher standards.[16] There are now annual checkups done by health inspectors where the overall state of the equipment and the cleanliness is checked.[17] There are also fire codes to be met and stricter sanitary measures like how everybody that touches the food is required to have gloves on.[18] With chefs now working at food carts and the higher standards for inspections and regulations, the public’s view of them have slowly changed over time.[19] People feel like Michelin chefs have more knowledge than immigrants in cooking and trust them more.[20] Nowadays, eating at a food cart is as safe as eating in a restaurant.
The place with the most food trucks in New York City now is Manhattan. They have firmly set themselves as a strong force in the food industry. The cooking equipment in food trucks have upgraded a lot and most of them now even have sinks. They have come a long way considering how pushcarts used to not even have any cooking equipment. While the whole structure of mobile food trucks has evolved over time, the food variety has increased as well. Halal carts, hot dog vendors, waffle trucks, breakfast carts, ice cream trucks, popcorn trucks are just a small part of the variety. The options are endless and some have even made a name for themselves. Some examples for this are Wafels & Dinges, Coney Shack, Uncle Gussy’s, and Korilla. Although, it is now more part of our daily lives for us, eating at a food truck was trendy at one point. It is amazing to think that our streets did not have something so convenient before and how they have increased in quantity over the years.
With the quantity steadily increasing, the competition for business is also increasing along with it. The locations of food carts are mainly concentrated in spots where there are normally a lot of people or where tourists usually go to. Some have a smaller target niche like children or nearby companies where employees look for a convenient place to get lunch. Ice cream trucks park near schools or parks where children or teenagers are often at. However, even before all of that, they would have to be able to get their desired location first. Three obstacles are always in the way of food truck business expansion. One of them is the intense competition that takes place in all the “good” spots.[21] New York City is already small, but there are rules like how food trucks are not allowed to park in metered spots.[22] This makes the options very limited.[23] Another obstacle they have to face are restaurant owners. Restaurant owners think the food carts a threat to their business and are “disrupting their status quo, upstarts who break the traditional ‘rules’ of cooking.”[24] “We park on streets with a lot of restaurants because that’s where hungry people are. Even with lines going out the door, apparently, we are still a threat.”[25] “I once got to a spot at 46th and 5th at CVS headquarters, which is the best spot for lunch in New York City. For that place, we get out at 3:45 a.m., because any time after 4 there it’s impossible to get a spot. But then the cops came and shut everyone down at 11. Why? Because, even though we were in a meter-free, totally legal area, there were ‘noise complaints.’ We didn’t make noise, but you could see restaurant owners peeking out to watch.”[26] The third obstacle is the New York City government. There are 36 pages in the manual for regulations for mobile food vendors alone.[27] All food carts and trucks in New York City must have the Mobile Food Vendor Personal License and have a Mobile Food Vending Unit Permit, which is a decal permit and the permit expires every two years.[28] Although, mobile food trucks were opened due to cheaper pricing compared to a permanent location, it is very hard to operate one. These three obstacles are big ones and they are stunting the growth of this field of business.
The current mayor, Bill de Blasio, is not exactly being helpful either. In an effort to sink a bill that would nearly double the number of food-vendor permits in the city by 2023, he is claiming that each hot dog and kabob cart causes more pollution than a truck ride to Los Angeles.[29] This new bill was going to increase the number of permits to 8,000 by 2023 and also have extra enforcement for violations.[30] Businesses and residents throughout the city were not too happy about the increasing vendor permits but were supporting increased enforcement.[31] They are not thinking from the perspectives of the owners of food trucks, who have already been waiting for 35 years for an increase in permits.[32] “Since 1983, the number of street-food vending permits has remained steady at 4,235.”[33]
What was originally a way of living for the Dutch immigrants has now flourished into something much more. Mobile food trucks are no longer looked down upon and some of them even have chefs that worked at Michelin star restaurants. Mobile food trucks have evolved in terms of food quality, cooking equipment, hygiene, and the consumers’ trust in them. Despite this process taking around 400 years, the effect it brought to our lives is profound. They made purchasing food more accessible and affordable. Food trucks originated from the working class and are still targeted at them. They are the working class’s hidden treasures.
Notes
[1] “History of Food Trucks.” TitleMax.com. Accessed March 03, 2017. https://www.titlemax.com/history-of- food-trucks/.
[2] “History of Food Trucks.”
[3] “History of Food Trucks.”
[4] “History of Food Trucks.”
[5] “History of Food Trucks.”
[6] “History of Food Trucks.”
[7] “History of Food Trucks.”
[8] “History of Food Trucks.”
[9] Bluestone, Daniel M. ““The Pushcart Evil” Peddlers, Merchants, and New York City’s Streets, 1890-1940.” Journal of Urban History. Vol. 18, Issue 1, p. 68. 1991. Accessed March 20, 2017. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/009614429101800104?journalCode=juha.
[10] “History of Food Trucks.”
[11] “History of Food Trucks.”
[12] “History of Food Trucks.”
[13] “History of Food Trucks.”
[14] “History of Food Trucks.”
[15] “History of Food Trucks.”
[16] “History of Food Trucks.”
[17] “History of Food Trucks.”
[18] “History of Food Trucks.”
[19] “History of Food Trucks.”
[20] Saxena, Jaya. “An Illustrated History of Food Trucks.” First We Feast. First We Feast, 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 24 May 2017. http://firstwefeast.com/eat/2015/09/an-illustrated-history-of-food-trucks
[21] “50 Food Truck Owners Speak Out.” FoodTruckr | How to Start and Run a Successful Food Truck Business. N.p., 01 Aug. 2016. Web. 24 May 2017. http://foodtruckr.com/2013/10/what-i-wish-id-known-before-starting-my-food-truck/
[22] “50 Food Truck Owners Speak Out.”
[23] “50 Food Truck Owners Speak Out.”
[24] Rodriguez, Eddie, Dennis Fulton, Adam Wears, Amanda Mannen, Chris Radomile, Carolyn Burke, Jacob Trowbridge, Ted E., Eric Yosomono, and Rev. Les Crowley. “6 Things Chefs Don’t Want You to Know About Food Trucks.” Cracked.com. N.p., 18 Apr. 2015. Web. 24 May 2017. http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1694-street-fights-explosions-6-reasons-food-trucks-are-crazy.html
[25] “6 Things Chefs Don’t Want You to Know About Food Trucks.”
[26] “6 Things Chefs Don’t Want You to Know About Food Trucks.”
[27] “What Mobile Food Vendors Should Know.” nyc.gov. NYC Health, Web. 24 May 2017. https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/rii/regulations-for-mobile-food-vendors.pdf
[28] What Mobile Food Vendors Should Know.”
[29] Gartland, Michael. “De Blasio Administration Finds a Way to Ruin Food Trucks.” New York Post. New York Post, 27 Oct. 2016. Web. 24 May 2017. http://nypost.com/2016/10/27/de-blasio-administration-finds-a-way-to-ruin-food-trucks/
[30] Gartland, Michael. “De Blasio Administration Finds a Way to Ruin Food Trucks.”
[31] Gartland, Michael. “De Blasio Administration Finds a Way to Ruin Food Trucks.”
[32] Gartland, Michael. “De Blasio Administration Finds a Way to Ruin Food Trucks.”
[33] Gartland, Michael. “De Blasio Administration Finds a Way to Ruin Food Trucks.”
