Calif. district invests in food truck for summer feeding

May 13—The food truck trend is extending to Newman-Crows Landing (Calif.) campuses. The district recently purchased a truck to serve as a colorful, rolling food service station for special events, to dole out concessions at athletic events and to reach out to the community during summertime food service programs.

When Finance Director Caralyn Mendoza, who oversees food services operations. first began investigating the possibility of acquiring a food truck, she was quoted a price of about $90,000 for a fully-equipped unit built from the ground up. That pushed the project to a back burner for a time, but when revisiting possibilities Mendoza learned that the company she had contacted had a more affordable unit available which would meet the district’s needs.

The new food truck is not equipped for cooking—but does have refrigeration, a steam table for warming and a sandwich prep bar, among other amenities, and the $65,000 price tag was more to the district’s liking.