Street Eatz is the newest installment to the Keller ISD lunch offerings, but this mobile food truck has had a long journey to arrive at the four high school campuses.
The Talon asked how the idea for the food truck came to be.
“We just renovated the whole service line over at Fossil Ridge, and to do that, it was about $386,000 for one school,” explained Anita Peden, the Child Nutrition Director of Operations working closely with our cafeteria employees. “We spent less than that on this truck, and we will be able to serve all the schools. We’re hoping that with the district’s money, we could do something that could benefit all the schools instead of having just a stationary service line at one school.”
“We’re excited to bring this to all the high schools, and hopefully the kids will like them,” Peden says.
WHEN WILL IT BE AT TIMBER CREEK?
The truck will not be with us everyday due to its rotating schedule: Central on Monday, Fossil on Tuesday, Keller on Wednesday, and Timber Creek on Thursday. Friday is the wild card. This will be up to the principals who ask for the food truck. They may have a special event planned for the students and want the truck at their school. The people who work closely with the truck are up for the idea of coming to the school before and after school, but nothing is certain yet. For the moment, the truck will be with Timber Creek on Thursdays throughout the entire lunch period. The truck is going to be outside on the paved driveway of the cafeteria. The plan is to provide tables and chairs so students and teachers can stay outside and enjoy their food.
WHAT’S ON THE MENU?
The food will be provided from some of the same sources as the cafeteria, and two of our very own employees will be serving, however the menu will be different. The goal of this food truck is to supply street food such as burritos, burgers and tacos. The menu will rotate each week to keep the students interested. The prices will be the same as our cafeteria food that is provided now. Even students on free or reduced lunch programs will be able to get something to eat with the truck.
WHAT TOOK SO LONG?
The food truck has been in the works for multiple years, but the first meals are expected to be served before March.
Keller ISD announced the food trucks would be arriving in October 2015 before the 2015-16 school year started. However, that date slipped significantly due to issues with the delivery of the truck. Once the truck actually arrived with Child Nutrition Services in January, they began the process of getting permits from the Tarrant County Health Department to serve food.
Those involved with the project have gone through rigorous check ups to make sure everything was up to code. Even though the truck has actually been to Timber Creek, they cannot begin serving food until the permit process is completed.
Organizers said they are aiming to serve meals to KISD students before the end of February and to serve food during the March 8 school board meeting. UPDATE: Students at Fossil Ridge got to experience the “soft launch” of the truck on March 3 and 4, 2016. Timber Creek’s first scheduled date will be after Spring Break on March 24, 2016.
Click on the images below (taken by The Creek Yearbook photographer Grace Nakajima) to see more details from the food truck:
