Keep On Truckin’ Somewhere Else

California has earned a rep for being anti-business. One of the latest regulatory bills in Sacramento would “significantly limit where lunch wagons can operate, keeping them even farther from schools than marijuana dispensaries,” according to an L.A. Times report.

(Photo: latimes.com)

Many food trucks serve health-conscious, trendy dishes that aren’t really aimed at kids, but Assemblyman William Monning (D-Carmel) thinks other trucks serving more typical fast food are contributing to the childhood obesity problem. According to the Times, “Food truck operators say the restrictions would put large swaths of their market—as much as 80% of streets in some places—out of reach.”

A representative of the food-policy lobbying group that masterminded the bill is quoted as saying that food truck-free zones are “a logical next step, now that sugary sodas have been banned from campus vending machines and schools are adopting healthier cafeteria menus.” This is all part of the food police’s game plan: set up food dictatorships inside the public schools and extend their influence as far outward as possible—all for sake of the kids, of course.

As the chief executive of the Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association points out, "This bill won't do anything to cut children's access to unhealthy food," and the California Restaurant Association says it “has deep concerns about any proposal that treats any type of restaurant like a sexual predator.”

If passed, this bill could score a Big Government trifecta by hindering business (small business in particular), limiting consumer choice, and not doing a darn thing to lower child obesity rates—which probably wouldn't stop this bad idea from spreading to other states.