SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane City Council is considering an ordinance that would decrease some regulations for food truck owners, but the Health District is stepping in to make sure food safety remains a priority if the ordinance passes.
Several restaurants around Spokane also have their own food trucks. But operating a food truck can be very different than a restaurant, especially when it comes to getting proper licensing and food safety permits.
The City Council is looking at an ordinance that will decrease some regulations for food trucks, including getting rid of a requirement for a separate food truck-specific license and allowing food trucks to operate with a general business license instead.
“I think making it easier for mobile food vendors such as ourselves to operate in the city and bring more activity downtown is always a good thing,” said Jenny Slagle, co-owner of Indigenous Eats.
The Spokane Regional Health District will still be in charge of inspecting food trucks, but it recommended changing the ordinance to make sure it lines up with the state laws it enforces.
“I just wanted to make sure that we’re all still working together and collaborating. We are regulating partners throughout all of the food establishments, whether it’s a restaurant, a food vendor or a food truck,” said Jessica Martin, food safety program manager for the Spokane Regional Health District.
The Health District says it doesn’t have any issue with this ordinance making it easier for food truck operators to get proper licensing in Spokane. It just wants to make sure the city is still a partner in enforcing unpermitted food trucks from serving food.
Martin explained the risks of unpermitted food trucks: “There’s a larger food safety risk. We don’t know where the food is coming from. We don’t know if the food is handled, whether it is safe or not. We don’t know the source, we don’t know if there is hand washing.”
The co-owner of Indigenous Eats, which has a food cart, hopes the ordinance will streamline the process of getting the right permits and licenses. She says it can be difficult to deal with multiple agencies to make sure she can serve food.
After making some changes to the ordinance, the City Council will discuss it once again at Monday’s meeting.
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