ROCKVILLE, Md. — Food trucks aren’t just for urbanites anymore: They could soon be popping up on farms inside Montgomery County’s agricultural reserve, thanks to a change in county zoning regulations.
County council member Hans Riemer sees food trucks on area farms as a way of increasing tourism to the farms themselves, providing added revenue and opening markets to food truck operators. Riemer says it could also help farmers find new clients for their produce with food truck operators coming up with ways to incorporate the locally grown goods on their menus.
Riemer says his own family’s experience shows how the synergy might work. Recently, he and his wife and sons were driving up to the Poolesville area to check out a local farm that had a winery. By the time they got there, he says they were “starving.”
A pizza truck happened to be on the property, making it possible to get the kids lunch and extend their tour.
“We spent a lot more money at this farm than we would have spent if we had just shown up and looked around and gone somewhere else for lunch,” he said.
Riemer says the kids got their meal and visited with the farm animals, while he and his wife toured the winery and ended up signing up for the farm’s wine club.
“So quarterly, we’ll get a couple of bottles shipped to our house,” he said.
The County Council voted on the zoning text amendment during its session on Tuesday morning.
