Cade Johns stands in a school lunch line to grab and grub.
The Hilliard Middle-Senior High School sophomore tried the Cowboy Burger from the Grab & Grub food truck parked at the bus loop Feb. 1.
“I think it’s pretty good. It’s better than that food,” said Johns, referring to regular cafeteria food.
The Cowboy Burger is a featured menu item that consists of an all-beef patty topped with cheese, crispy onion rings, jalapenos and barbecue sauce between baked buns. Red potato salad accompanies the burger.
“It’s manly,” Johns said. “It’s a cowboy burger. It’s a little fancy.”
The Nassau County Food and Nutrition Services Department’s first and only food truck rolled out Jan. 17. The food truck stops at all four high schools.
On hand to prepare and serve meals were Truck Manager Audra Bower and Area Supervisor for Nassau County Schools Food Services Tom Chapp. Hilliard Food Service Manager Sherryl Sims and employee Mary Yake assisted with financial transactions.
Director of Food and Nutrition Services Lauren Jones said the food truck fulfills a need for added mobility.
“We were in need of a mobile feeding unit to help with our challenges during summer feeding and transporting food across the county,” she said. “We wanted to design something that not only could be used for summer feeding but also all school year long so that it did not just sit idle during times of the year. We went with a food truck design because it already has an appeal and is an increasing food service trend across the country.”
The food truck is equipped with a full-size oven, flat-top grill, steam table, warmer, cooler, freezer, sandwich prep unit with cooler, hand-washing sink, a three-compartment sink, outdoor LED lights and speakers. Reach-in coolers are on the truck’s outside for self-service items.
“We wanted to be practical but also appeal to our high school student customer with something fresh and new,” Jones said.
Another goal is to boost the number of meals distributed among high school students.
“We chose to visit high school students regularly for several reasons,” Jones said. “The biggest reason is because they have the lowest participation in the school lunch program. Our elementary and middle schools serve between 59 and 67 percent of the students, whereas our high schools are between 42 and 57 percent.”
Menu items derive from local and state growers and business owners whenever possible.
“The menu items are developed to be specialty,” Jones said. “You can’t go to a food truck and get something plain or normal. The menu will always include unique flavors, spices and food combinations. We wanted to feature local products as much as possible. We will rotate the menu at least monthly as it will only see the students once a week.”
“Our first menu combination features a fresh all-beef patty raised and processed in Florida from Miami Beef. We also have a fresh garden salad offered every day that features locally grown romaine lettuce from Traders Hill Farm out of Hilliard and tomatoes from Immokalee and Palmetto. … All meals include an option of a fresh garden salad, fresh fruit, milk and/or 100 percent fruit juice.”
The food truck travels to Fernandina Beach High School on Mondays with two lunch periods served. It visits Yulee High School on Tuesdays for four lunch periods and visits Hilliard on Wednesdays for two lunch periods. West Nassau’s students grab grub from the food truck during two lunch periods each Thursday. On Fridays the food truck travels on a rotation, delivering food to the school that deemed it popular that week, according to Jones.
The food truck will be in service during major events occurring at elementary and middle schools. It also visits the district building to accommodate staff and Adult Education students, according to Jones.
Approximately 50 to 60 HMSHS students per lunch stop at the food truck.
Freshman Amaya Walker has already visited once before.
“I like it,” she said. “I like the burger and the potato salad. It’s like what you would eat around town. I could eat it every day.”
Hannah Williams expressed her satisfaction with the extra menu choice.
“It’s very different than the school lunch,” the sophomore said. “It tastes like when you go out to a restaurant.”
Jones sees the menu preferences as a growing trend among high school students.
“They want retail,” she said. “They want what they can purchase in retail food services. And we want to give them something different than the traditional cafeteria environment.”
Future plans include adding breakfast menu items.
“There is a ton of data on student eating habits and the reality is they have changed drastically at all age levels over the last 10 years,” Jones said. “Students are pickier – and more food and flavor savvy than ever before – even in the younger age groups. Many students eat out more than they eat at home, making it extremely challenging to accommodate their needs and wants within the federal school lunch and breakfast program due to our limited funds, strict nutrition standards and meal pattern guidelines.”
“All meals are $3.25 for students and include the main entrée, featured side item and the choice of fresh fruit, 100 percent fruit juice, milk, and a fresh garden salad, which are all included in the same price,” Jones said.
The standard price for a cafeteria lunch is $2.75. The $3.25 food truck lunch includes a 50-cent up charge for the added cost of made-to-order meals.
“The really awesome thing is we are fully integrated with the cafeteria system and if students qualify for free or reduced price meals, they also can eat on the food truck for their regular free or reduced rate,” Jones said. “Our county has 51 percent of students who qualify for free and reduced priced meals – the highest it has ever been, so there are a lot of students who can benefit from this opportunity. Although we have so many students eligible for these benefits, we are only feeding approximately 67 percent of the free students and 64 percent of the reduced students across all four high schools in Nassau County. Our goal is to feed as many students as possible. After only two weeks of operation, our overall percentages are up slightly. We expect it to continue to grow in the coming weeks and months.”
Because the program is new, administrators have not had time to establish enough information to conduct a complete cost analysis.
“We are still in the developing stage of the program and do not have definite costs to operate the truck on a regular basis,” Jones said. “It will largely depend on how many students participate and other events the truck will go to. We have been able to employ at least one additional person in the food service program and hope that the truck will increase participation and ultimately lead to more jobs as well. The overall costs include, food, labor, gas, diesel and maintenance costs, which will change over time.”