BIRMINGHAM, AL – Food truck operators around Birmingham have circled the wagons, and recently announced they have formed a coalition to promote the city’s growing street food industry and guard against too much government regulation.

The group, which calls itself the Greater Birmingham Street Food Coalition, began as a Facebook movement last year, when the Birmingham City Council first considered an ordinance that would enforce when and where food trucks and push carts may do business in the city. According to the group’s website:

The Greater Birmingham Street Food Coalition is a group of culinary entrepreneurs who sell high-quality, diverse and exciting cuisines from vehicles, push-carts and other portable vending facilities. The Coalition seeks to promote and protect our industry as a viable and beneficial business model and to assist members in with the legal, regulatory, and public relations issues that arise in connection with the operation of members’ businesses. Specifically we hope to:

• Provide a single point of contact for local government officials, owners of “bricks and mortar” restaurants, and members of the public to foster and maintain positive relations with all concerned.
• Work cooperatively with municipalities and governmental bureaucracies to review codes, ordinances, procedures and enforcement so that they better address the realities of this new industry and not try to apply out-dated and inapplicable rules to this novel and dynamic business model.
• Assist members with legal and regulatory compliance issues and concerns.
• Provide assistance to members to assist them in providing positive additions to this new culinary movement.
• Create a system of addressing issues that may arise from our presence and develop equitable solutions to resolve any problems.
• Provide contact information for members of the community who wish to avail themselves of the services our members.

The group also plans to promote and raise money for the mobile food industry by hosting food-truck festivals similar to the Trucks By the Tracks event last year at Railroad Park.