Did you say you’re putting a food truck on a farm?
Veggielution’s Eastside Grown will be a community food hub connecting local food entrepreneurs and residents to economic opportunities and events that celebrate the culinary diversity of East San José. Our goal is to bring the community together at Emma Prusch Farm Park with a commercial food truck-incubator kitchen and work space; an outdoor market; cooking classes; mentorship opportunities; technical assistance and micro-entrepreneurship workshops.
Although people have been eating street food since the time of the ancient Greeks, the food truck craze began in the late 1600’s in New York City, formerly known as New Amsterdam. The city of New York began to regulate trucks around the same time that the English overthrew the Dutch. Soon thereafter dining cars in trains were established on cross country routes and the mobile food scene in America was born. In the late 1800’s sausage vendors called “dog wagons” sold to Ivy League universities and soon after Oscar Meyer began selling his famous hot dogs in the Wiener Mobile.
Today the food truck industry has evolved in many cities across the nation and is well established in Houston, New York, Portland, Los Angeles, etc. In the 1950’s ice cream trucks began to boom in suburban neighborhoods, quenching the thirst and the sweet tooth of neighborhood children. In the 60’s the “roach coach” as we know them were widespread meeting the hunger demands of construction worker sites and people trying to grab food on the go. San Jose is home to Lee’s Sandwiches, the largest chain of Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwiches in the world and it all started with a food truck in the 1980’s.
Veggielution decided to start with a mobile culinary classroom to gain traction around the idea of a community food hub.
Eastside Grown will be the first of its kind in Santa Clara County!
Just like Mr. Lee, we can get much more exposure with a mobile food facility rather than focusing our efforts on getting our community to come to us, we will go to our community. The food truck will allow us to participate in a wide range of community events such as festivals, health fairs, farmers markets, swap meets (flea markets), and other special events.
The food truck movement is now in full swing in some parts of the country, but not all. Cities like Houston, New York, Portland, and Los Angeles have well established organizations/associations that help to bridge the gap between city/state policy and regulations and the fast paced lifestyle of the mobile food entrepreneur. The rules and permitting process is different from city to city and county to county, making for a challenging obstacle course for anyone trying to get their business off the ground.
The options for a good quality and affordable food truck are SLIM to say the least. These trucks are coming from a non-regulated DIY climate and emerging into a highly regulated custom made reality. What does that mean? Expensive! Our best bet will be to find a semi good quality truck that we can put a little money into or find a kind and generous individual who needs a truck taken off their hands. As of now I am connecting with local food entrepreneurs and food truck businesses to get the best product for the best price. The search continues for the right truck!
Written by Rosa Contreras, Veggielution Volunteer Program Coordinator
