KEEP ON TRUCKIN'

            I am a fan of the latest culinary craze, the food truck. I have always been a fan of food trucks, even before they became the stop du jour for the young crowd and the terminally hip. The current version of food trucks, or roach coaches as they were once called,  are not the ones of my youth.

             Today, if you approached a food truck and it had the word roach in its name, it would probably be called  "Le Roach Coach" and offer up a gourmet variety of roaches on mini corn tortillas with 10 types of dipping sauces.

            While patient zero in this movement is said to be the Kogi Truck, which serves a Korean/Mexican hybrid taco, I believe that it really took off with the TV show "The Great Food Truck Race."  Regardless of which popularized it, the cork is out of the bottle and the genie has taken over.

            The entrepreneurs who run these trucks have harnessed every bit of technology that is available out there in order to meet the increasing demands of their ravenous public. Foodies follow their every move on their web sites, Twitter, and of course Facebook, creating lines of fans waiting and wanting to buy every little tidbit they offer.

            This following, the sense of community, and the money that they generate is usually something that most cities want to court. That  is, unless you are the City of Monrovia. 

            As I read in this paper last week, Monrovia is being sued by a collective of food truck vendors over the City's ban of food trucks. The group is called SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association or SoCalMFVA, a name that nobody seemed to put much thought into. If they wanted to be as innovative as the food they serve, they should have a name like Friendly Order of Outdoor Diners or FOOD for short, but what is done is done.

            Anyway, to put it in a nutshell, Monrovia's City Council, in its attempt to protect their favorite lunch & dinner haunts, has banned all mobile culinary eateries. Okay, I don't know where the city council eats, but they seem to be throwing out the baby with the bath water. That or the good food with what is more times than not mediocre.

            As was demonstrated in Rosemead and Arcadia a few weeks ago, the synergy between a city and the food truckers can be beneficial for both.

            In Rosemead's case, the two combined forces to raise funds for a planned Veterans' Memorial in that city. A percentage of the proceeds raised went to the city fund during the 2 day event. It was a win-win-win situation. The vendors, the City, and the public. Having gone to that one myself I can testify to the large number of people in attendance and to the quality of the food.

            Living in the nearby City of Temple, who has long suffered from Monrovia envy, as  recently  witnessed by the newly formed Farmer's Market on Sunday mornings next to TC City Hall, they may want to jump on the food truck band wagon.

            Maybe a couple of breakfast-esque type of trucks on Sunday mornings to go along with the Farmer's Market? Maybe throw some trucks around the "Concerts in the Park" series they do during the summer months with a percentage going to our schools? Why wait for summer? Start now and designate one Friday or Saturday night a month as a food in the park night.

            Hell they should take over the long dormant corner of Las Tunas Drive & Rosemead Boulevard and make it into a food truck park. It would be a vast improvement over what they have currently planned and  a whole lot cheaper, but they would have to do it now.

            I know that city councils never move fast and "now" usually doesn't happen unless they are saying "no" to something.  The only thing we can hope for is that somebody here in the SGV, besides the City of Rosemead, is smart enough to strike while the iron is hot. If not Temple City, how about San Gabriel? Alhambra?

            Move on it now before Monrovia figures out that they've made a mistake.