“Compact” and “mobile” are technology buzzwords for 2012 — why not also apply them to restaurants?
This is one of the questions at the heart of the Athens Food Cart Festival, the result of a yearlong effort by students in the College of Environmental Design.
“I think it’s a great way to diversify Athens’ downtown economy,” said Carrie Landers, CED graduate assistant. “And [to] get people beyond the undergraduate population spending time in downtown Athens, socializing in the community and interacting with one another in the public space of the street.”
Athens is already an established cultural hub for music and bars. The students involved in the festival planning are interested to expand those cultural bounds to include food carts as well.
“I’d say our short-term goal is to get Athens excited about food carts, and to view food carts in a positive way,” Landers said. “There’s a lot of negative stigma from restaurateurs and Athenians based on not knowing what to expect, really. They’re thinking of ‘roach coach’ food carts.”
Despite any stigmas, there are already a few mobile food vendors in the Athens community: Farm 255’s Farm Cart offers lunches with locally grown ingredients. And the rainbow umbrella on the Lafonda Dawgs mobile is a North Campus staple.
But cities such as Portland, Ore. and Minneapolis have entire blocks reserved for their wheeled eateries.
“A lot of the restrictions [food carts] face in Atlanta are also state issues,” said Samuel Kelleher, MLA candidate at the CED. “It’s kind of interesting, because they’re all based on the same national law, but the way Georgia has chosen to interpret it at the state level is more strict than a lot of other states.”
If the food carts are well received by the Athens community this weekend, local officials may reconsider the hurdles between entrepreneurs and food cart permits.
At the very least, the idea is for the festival to spark community conversation on the matter.
“There are a number of things that we’re kind of interested in,” said Eric MacDonald, assistant professor. “One is just enhancing the public life in downtown and on the street. Having these vendors on the streets brings people outside and they provide a setting for informal social interaction. Then there are benefits from an economic standpoint in that having a mobile street cart. Even though it’s still not cheap, it’s still a fraction of the capital that someone would need in comparison to opening a restaurant.”
Whether or not the festival spurs great change in the community, the event promises a variety of food options not normally available in the area.
Cuisine will range from empanadas to chicken and waffles to Italian-style gelato.
“We were looking at the social life of Athens,” Kelleher said. “And while this isn’t something that’s going to completely revolutionize the culture of Athens, the greater goal is to enhance what we already see as a good thing.”
FOOD TRUCK FESTIVAL
Where: Washington and College Avenue
When: Noon
Price: Varied
Contact: athensfoodcartfest.wordpress.