(Updated with some comments from Schechter, below the clip)
Geez, is this the Rule of Threes for Fort Worth's food-truck scene? First, there are a number of closings -- more in Fort Worth than Dallas, as DFW.com content partner DFW Food Truck Foodie has reported (in fairness, DFW Food Truck Foodie notes that the closure rate for food trucks has been smaller than the closure rate for first-year restaurants).
Then there was the rumor Cowtown Chow Down, Fort Worth's second food park, had closed -- a rumor that isn't true, but the park is undergoing some changes.
Now there's this WFAA/Channel 8 report that's been making the rounds, in which David Schechter takes a look behind-the-scenes at some Fort Worth food trucks, and finds some things that aren't pretty -- and sees some lax oversight on the city's part, especially compared with Dallas' more strict food rules (some of which were alluded to in DFW Food Truck Foodie's post about closings). This has picked up steam online, but maybe this is one of those times when we want to avoid the word "viral."
In response to an e-mail query, Schechter says that most of the comments he's received on the story are of the " 'thanks for doing that story and we appreciate it' variety." He adds that reaction in the Fort Worth food-truck community has been mixed, with some operators understandably upset about the story, but others saying they’d like to start their own commissary to self-regulate and protect the image of their industry.
Schechter says he's working on a follow-up, and that he hopes to hear from Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price's office, as well as from Code Compliance, which was approached for the initial report but, Schechter says, did not want to participate in a sit-down interview. As they say in TV news, this is a developing story ...
