EDMONTON -- As the city starts easing some of its COVID-19 restrictions, some food vendors are pleased the plan includes food trucks.
“The fact that they released something before we had to strong-arm it out of them when the weather turned is pretty cool,” said Kara Fenske, Drift Food Truck Owner.
Many food vendors have been in limbo, wondering how much longer their trucks and livelihoods would sit idle.
“We’ve lost weddings, festivals, functions, everything,” said Wendy Gossen who operates Bully Food Truck.
To get through the pandemic, Bully Food Truck has been relying on private events. On Friday they were hired by Ocean Trailer to provide a free, thank-you lunch to truck drivers.
“We wear gloves, we wear masks, we’re trying to protect ourselves as well as others,” said Gossen.
They now also include hand sanitizing stations for customers near the truck. Gossen believes they’re ready to hit the streets of Edmonton to start serving the public despite new rules being imposed.
The city will require food trucks to have physical distancing measures in place when customers are lined up and ordering. Self-serve condiments and seating areas will no longer be allowed.
“As long as the customers stay six feet apart from each other I think it’s a good thing,” said Gossen.
“At the market we do have a seating area but they won’t have one there this year,” she added.
But with large gatherings and summer festivals banned this year, Feske says it will still hurt many vendors bottom lines.
“Things will be a slow crawl but I think people are ready to embrace small business and support us in the best way that they can,” she said.
Food trucks will be limited to on-street parking zones and parking lots at city parks.
Though permits are being issued to food trucks, the city said carts and other vendors that typically set up on sidewalks are not being issued permits yet.
