Nashville, Indiana Food Truck Ban

The Institute for Justice (IJ) sent a letter to local officials in Nashville, Indiana, urging the town to reconsider proposed restrictions on food trucks.  

As drafted, the ordinance would prohibit mobile food vendors from operating in Nashville’s downtown “Village District,” where most of the town’s restaurants and shops are clustered, except during special events. IJ’s letter warns that singling out food trucks to shield existing businesses from competition is both bad policy and likely unconstitutional. 

Some council members say they’re concerned that the presence of food trucks could harm established brick-and-mortar eateries. But IJ research has found that the opposite is true. The proposed restrictions also raise concerns under both the federal and Indiana constitutions. The U.S. Supreme Court, for instance, expressly held that economic protectionism violates the U.S. Constitution in the 1985 case Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Ward.