The production on two food trucks meant for the Detroit school district was scheduled to start on Tuesday, according to a tweet from the district’s nutrition program.
The Detroit school district is working toward incorporating food trucks into its lunch program in an effort to encourage students to eat more nutritious foods, Chalkbeat Detroit reports.
The trucks cost $307,000 and will be paid for by a grant from the federal school lunch program. They will be built by The Food Truck Shop in Canton, Michigan.
The two food trucks will travel around high schools in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, offering students foods not available in the cafeteria. The trucks will serve meals like Philly cheese steaks, street tacos, Asian noodle bowls and mac and cheese, which will all be prepared onboard the trucks.
Inside of a food truck at our vendor’s warehouse excitingly counting the days until production begins on @Detroitk12’s own two trucks Oct. 1!@MachionJackson #nextlevelfood #goodfoodonaroll #feedingourfutureleaders #StudentsRiseWeAllRise pic.twitter.com/dRCvLNCicN
— DPSCDSchoolNutrition (@DPSCDNutrition) September 10, 2019
Principals of elementary schools will be able to request the trucks for special events, although the trucks will spend the majority of their time at high schools. During the summer, the trucks will be integrated into the Meet Up and Eat Up program, which is aimed at helping students who don’t have access to enough food at home.
The Detroit school district offers free breakfast and lunch to all of its students — around 50,000. The participation rate for the program has been stagnant around 70 percent in recent years. Officials said they hope that the “trendier food option” will encourage more students to eat school lunches.
Skyla Butts, communications manager for the Detroit school district’s nutrition program, described the food trucks as “#nextlevelfood” and “#goodfoodonaroll” in a tweet.
There has been no announcement yet when the trucks will begin serving students.
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Jordyn Pair is a reporter with Battleground State News and The Michigan Star. Follow her on Twitter at @JordynPair. Email her at [email protected].
