On Tuesday Feb 14, State Assemblyman Bill Monning introduced AB 1678, which would require that all mobile food vendors park at least 1,500 feet away from a public school. Read more in this article.
Why this makes no sense:
- Many schools serve food that isn’t healthy anyway (one poster on Facebook said her kid’s school served chocolate mini donuts, frosted cereals, pepperoni pizza, chicken-fried steak, tater tots, etc.)
- Food from food trucks is often made from scratch and healthier than school food.
- Kids that are old enough to leave campus to visit a food truck are probably also old enough to walk to fast food restaurants, convenience stores, or to drive wherever they want, anyway.
What problem is banning food trucks going to solve?
The bill is backed by the California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA). Here are photos from the CFPA website showing trucks vending near a school. It looks like all ice cream trucks, to me. Talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
