Overview
Are food trucks being unfairly targeted by local rules often written by brick-and-mortar competition? This lesson explores the growing conflict between food trucks and traditional restaurants, showing how city regulations can limit competition, stifle entrepreneurship, and reduce consumer choice. Students will examine real-world examples and consider the fairness of government favoritism in business.

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Grade level and subjects
• Recommended for grades 6-12
• Subjects: Business, Government, and Economics
• Works in Classroom, Hybrid, and Homeschool settings

What students will learn
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
• list the different types of regulations that impact food trucks as discussed in the video;
• summarize the motivations behind cities' decisions to impose restrictions on food trucks;
• compare the effects of protectionist regulations on both food trucks and traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants; and
• defend a position on whether government policies should favor traditional restaurants over food trucks, using arguments and evidence presented in the video.

Key concepts and terms covered
Bottleneckers, Collude, Entrepreneur, Protectionism, and Regulation.

Sample discussion questions
• What are some types of food trucks mentioned in the video?
• What is the difference between starting a food truck and a brick-and-mortar restaurant?
• What arguments do food truck operators use to fight against these regulations?
• If food trucks may only park 200 ft away from a brick-and-mortar restaurant, should the same rule (i.e. can only open 200 ft away from established restaurants) apply to new brick-and-mortar restaurants? Why or why not?
• What criteria would you use to decide if a regulation is fair or unfair to different types of businesses?

What’s in the free teacher’s guide
This printable 17-page Teacher's Guide includes a lesson description, learning objectives, key vocabulary, a fill-in viewing guide with answer key, discussion and analysis questions, and classroom activities.

Standards alignment
Aligned to state standards — use the SITC Standards Tool to match this video to the standards in your state.