chi-ft-day

Follow your favorite Chicago food trucks to see where they’ll be Today, Thursday, July 12, during lunch and throughout the day. Each truck will give away 19 free products to the first 19 customers in line. We’ll end the day at Fischman’s Liquors at 4780 N Milwaukee Ave. with live music and of course, food trucks, from 5:30-9:00.

Why 19? Because next Thursday, July 19, the Committee on License and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing on Mayor Emanuel’s proposed food truck ordinance, and we need YOU, our faithful street food fans to take action!

This law would allow trucks to cook on board and operate 24 hours a day (hooray!), but it still unfairly limits their freedom:

  • Ban within 200 feet of restaurants, except a few spots selected by the City
  • $1000-2000 fines for parking too close to restaurants or longer than 2 hours
  • GPS surveillance

The strict 200-foot rule and harsh parking penalties have nothing to do with protecting the public. The city is giving special benefits to restaurants and treating food truck entrepreneurs like second-class citizens. Tell the City Council that they should treat all Chicagoans with business dreams equally, and allow Chicago’s creative chefs to start small and grow big!

What You Can Do:

  • Callwrite, or tweet City Council today.
  • Participate in Food Truck Day. Follow your favorite trucks on Twitter, follow Mobile Cuisine at @MobileCuisine, follow the IJ Clinic on Entrepreneurship at @ijclinic, or visit their Facebook page for updates.
  • Sign this petition to eliminate the 200-foot parking restriction and GPS tracking, and create fair fine structure.
  • Attend the hearing on Thursday, July 19, at 11:00am, in Room 201A of City Hall to show support.
  • Learn more about the issues from the IJ Clinic on Entrepreneurship at ij.org/mystreets.
  • Share this information with your friends on Facebook or Twitter.

So get out there and enjoy the grat food and support a great cause.