Hot dogs are great. Sausages and veggie dogs, too. But for a while now, Torontonians have come back from their trips abroad and wondered, more and more loudly, why Toronto’s street food is so limited.
The city finally started listening, and tried out A La Cart.
It didn’t work. Now they’re back with a new
food truck pilot program.
According to Richard Mucha, acting director of licensing services at the city, and the guy in charge of the folks who tell us what we can and can’t eat on the street, it’s all been in response to a change in provincial regulations two years ago that expanded what was considered safe.
"A report had gone to the city council last year with regards to recommendations and expanding menus," he says. "Safety is always a concern, and we work with our partners in Toronto Public Health, but at this point, what we’re focusing on is running the pilot with food trucks in order to assess the feasibility of expanded street food."
In addition to safety, there are other licensing and practical concerns, like how the food trucks will share space with traffic of various sorts, pedestrian and otherwise.
"To gauge how that is going to play out, we’re running the pilot program in a number of parks around the city," Mucha says, including Allan Gardens, Canoe Landing and Sherbourne Common.
"Based on the information we get, our division, MLS, will be reporting to the Licensing and Standards Committee next spring, or at least in advance of the spring season."
At which point, we’ll find out if we’ll be able to buy our cupcakes and quinoa salads on the streets in the long term.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Richard Mucha
Photo:
Adam Groffman