Food Trucks are trying to make school lunches cool

Getting high school kids to the cafeteria and helping  them embrace  healthier choices in their eating  has always been difficult. When it comes to lunch, many of the kids prefer to grab a bite off-campus, which obviously translates to deep fried food topped with extra cheese. But now, schools are fighting fire with fire by getting their own food trucks on campus to lure the kids into eating better.

It all started with Boulder Valley, Colorado

Boulder Valley in Colorado became the first school to use the school food truck concept last year. The brightly styled truck looks like a cross between a milk truck and a rustic farmhouse. The truck which cost about $75,000 was funded by a grant given by Whole Foods Market.

Ann Cooper, the director of food services at Boulder Valley school district claimed that the kids avoid the school cafeteria because it does not provide an attractive environment to eat in. As kids are looking for  ‘cooler’ places to hang out, cafeterias have become one of the most boring places for them to eat. But food trucks on the other hand, not only provide the ‘cool’ vibe with bright colors and music playing in the background but they also make the kids feel like they are eating off-campus.

With these food trucks, kids not only get a better, open environment for eating but it also provides them with a healthy alternative. After all, providing quality food and administering health of children has always been the mission.

Though most of the food served in the food trucks is right out of the good old cafeteria, steps have been taken by the food service committee to spice up the menu with the help of local restaurant chefs. All the food offered is still at the same, subsidized prices.

The obstacles in between

However easy and great this idea might sound; the initial set up was definitely difficult. Bertrand Weber, director of food services of the Minnesota school district stated that it took him about a month to source a food truck and another two months to modify it completely.

They partnered with local chefs to create healthy recipes for the kids. Not just that, they went all the way out to work with a local turkey farmer to develop a turkey burger and a hot dog recipe. Though with only a refrigerator, food warmer and a sink on board, the truck isn’t as well quipped but according to Weber, it can serve about 700 kids in just 90 minutes because of additional  food is stored in the campus refrigerators.

It’s definitely inspiring to know that they were able to serve 28,000 pounds of local produce in just three weeks.

Moving ahead

The food trucks need to just serve 200 meals during lunch time to break even. Though they can serve up to 800 meals in one go with the help of on campus refrigerators.  We cannot wait to see the food truck trend catching on in other district schools in the country.