Samantha Lund, News Editor
Food on campus might get spiced up next year with a new food truck.
With its own specialized menu, the food truck will give students a new place for breakfast or lunch.
Director of Dining and Culinary Services Erin McGinnis has been contemplating getting a food truck for a while, but it was President Krise who she gives all the credit to.
“The president has been really excited about this idea, ever since he got here he’s been asking about a food truck,” McGinnis said. “They had one at University of the Pacific, where he came from.”
The concept for the truck is to bring food to students when and where they need it. McGinnis hopes to create a schedule for the truck that puts it in the corners of campus with the most students throughout the day.
“I think that it is gonna be really awesome for commuter students,” first-year Melissa Munson said. “It will give them a different option for dinners so they don’t have to pay the all-you-can eat price at dinners and have an option outside of OMM.”
The truck will accept dining dollars like all other university markets and have its own menu rotation.
“The trickiest part is trying to figure out the menu mix,” McGinnis said. “It’s such a small campus that if you were to go to it five days a week, how would we keep it fresh and keep students wanting to come back, you know?”
The truck has not yet been confirmed for next year. Dining and Culinary Services needs to make sure it will be successful and well marketed before it is promised.
From a marketing standpoint, McGinnis is currently trying to figure out what shape the truck will take. The most recent plans have been to wrap a food truck in the Pacific Lutheran University knight logo and drive it around campus during the week. The truck would also be used at sporting events and could be taken out into the community to promote PLU.
PLU’s food truck also brings the opportunity to have food at sporting games and other campus events. McGinnis said those events could have their own themed foods.
McGinnis does not want the truck to be only junk food.
“We’ve talked about healthy versus crave-able foods a lot,” McGinnis said. “We want to give students something healthy out of the truck but those all need to be really crave-able. We’re aiming for really crave-able foods.”
If one of the meals at the truck became exponentially more popular than others, McGinnis said she is open to putting those meals in the Commons for dinner.
Right now, to get the truck project going, McGinnis is looking for support and opinions from students. Last night, Residents Hall Council held a meeting to talk about the possibility of a food truck and get feedback from students.
“As a senior, I’m really excited for future students,” RHC council member Ann-Marie Falloria said. “But I’m a little disappointed it’s happening after I’m graduating.” FOR MORE INFO
