On the way to work, I pass at least three separate places where you can buy tamales. In each case, the tamales are being sold out of a cooler in the back of a truck. Some of them are in vacant lots. All of them are on private property. Why can these people sell food without a food card, a business license, and on someone else's private property, but if I want to open a business, I need a license, a food handler permit, and an actual establishment?
Until a few months ago, there were two food places on the sidewalk alongside a church building I drive past on the way to work. One of these was also a tamale truck, sold out of a cooler in a van under the shade of trees in the church parking lot. The other was a fruit and drink stand on the other side of the church, in the shade of the trees on the sidewalk. Apparently, someone from the congregation finally confronted them, but why do these people think they can use other people's property to purvey their wares? I would have to get a building. Sometimes I get hit up to buy tamales in the grocery store parking lot or walmart, again out of the back of a truck and out of a cooler. Doesn't seem like these businesses should be allowed to use that property, or does this set a precedence for ME to start a business (car wash, oil change, food stand, etc.) in the Walmart parking lot and let them pay to clean the pavement, light the lot and secure it?
Some of the mobile food trucks probably have licenses, because they at least have license plates. Many of the people who own them park them on private property when they are not working, but at least those people have established a legitimate business. Who gave them permission to sell anything? I get hit up by people trying to clean my windows, refresh my headlights, sell me (knockoff probably) licensed merchandise from Disney or the NFL, or food constantly. I doubt very much that these people have an actual business license. This also means they are not PAYING TAXES on their business. Even legitimate business owners I know admit to preferring cash jobs so they don't have to report it as a sale or a job. When I do things for people, I always tell them that I'm not a licensed contractor and that, especially since I typically do the work for free, they got what they paid for.
Safety is my primary concern as a scientist. Last December I bought a burrito at a food truck in Barcelona and got food poisoning. Who is vouchsafing the tamales for safety? I don't know how they were cooked, I don't know how long they have been there, and I don't know about the health habits of those purveying the food. There is a reason they require a food handler's card for places like McDonalds. You will be giving food to PAYING CUSTOMERS. So what's your recourse if you get sick? Probably none. What if you catch Trypanosoma gondii? Too bad. Tape worms? Too bad.
I'm not usually a fan of government, but I am also not a fan of anarchy. I recently watched "A Knight's Tale" again and noticed them selling cat meat and hot wine at the joust and thought that was disturbing. There are tons of parasites out there. There are tons of diseases out there. THere are tons of criminals out there. I don't see how we're doing people a favour by turning a blind eye to some because it's "too much trouble" while requiring others to comply. The IRS is requiring some companies to report if you earn $600 in income; I earned $611 on ebay this year, so I'll get to pay taxes. Maybe I should be selling tamales out of my garage instead, because I could probably make more money and have zero consequences. But that's not how I roll.
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