Urban mobile food truck policies: reducing disparities and building a culture of health in the United States

We undertook this study knowing that for people throughout the Midwest who live in low-income urban neighborhoods, finding and affording healthy foods continues to be a problem. People with less money are not only forced to spend it on food, but have so limited options for avoiding purchase of foods with high levels of fat, salt, and sugar. A review of the literature shows that very little is known about how mobile food trucks can increase availability and affordability of healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods in the United States. We compared municipal codes regulating mobile food truck operators and evaluated the impact on cities in the Midwest for encouraging a ‘culture of health.’ We analyzed six Midwest metropolitan areas with the highest proportion of minorities who lived below the poverty level and had mobile food trucks selling provisions in their neighborhoods. We found that developing more incentives for mobile food truck operators to sell healthier food options can contribute to improving health outcomes in low-income neighborhoods.