Food trucks have been an American staple since the 19th Century and continue to dominate local farmers markets and vendor events. One place these food trucks thrive is at the Fresno City College campus.
But why? Why do we have food trucks on campus every day, each with their own distinct flavor and culture? To understand this, let’s look at the history of these trucks and how they came to our campus.
Back in 2018, Administrative Services technician Alma Huetra and her colleague Kaitlynn Brandon noticed students and staff lacked variety and convenience when it came to food options.
They decided to add food trucks on campus, but it wasn’t an easy start. Because of how many different types of food there was to offer, there were too many trucks to pick from and too much paperwork to deal with.
“It was very time consuming to try and get all the paperwork and scheduling, trying to make sure we get at least a day or two for so many food trucks and to give them all a chance to be on campus,” Huerta said.
But last year, FCC partnered with Fresno Street Eats, according to Huerta, and with them, it made their job much easier. Now, Fresno Street Eats handles the vendors and is able to schedule them.
Fresno Street Eats is a local company who cater food trucks for all kinds of events. According to their website, they have a network of 70 food trucks, ready to be used for corporate events, festivals and food truck events all across the Central Valley.
According to Brandon, Fresno Street Eats handles all of the verification and paperwork for the college to ensure that the vendors who come onto campus are allowed to work here and are serving in a safe manner. Fresno Street Eats can even provide verification for vendors themselves instead of placing the responsibility on Huerta and Brandon.
“We are able to gather their documents and get them verified to make sure they are operating legally on campus and safely for all of our students and staff, and we’ve heard how much easier it is now,” Brandon said.
Students hang out by the fountain and grab a bite from El Jaliscience, a Mexican food truck seen on FCC campus on Feb. 24. (Photo by: Katrina Saldivar)
The benefits of having the trucks on campus speak for themselves. The availability, convenience and the ability to grab something quick to eat without losing your parking spot by leaving.
Students appreciate this as well. Daniella Mariscal, a nursing major at FCC, likes how convenient it is to have the trucks on campus.
“It’s convenient like we don’t have to go anywhere to go get food,” Mariscal said.
Andres Diaz, a barber, added that it’s good that students don’t have to go anywhere, since gas is expensive.
However, there is a common critique when talking about the food trucks. Pricing on the food has been a huge talking point.
Josh Petersen, the Library Operations Coordinator, shared his concerns about the food trucks when it comes to how much they price.
“They’re a bit expensive. I’ll do it (buy) if I’m real hungry and it looks good but if I do it every day, I’ll run out of money,” Petersen said.
Huetra and Brandon have heard these complaints before and actively work to make sure prices are reasonable for students and staff.
“There has to be a student option, and it has to be $10 or under. It is not a law, but it is a requirement to be here on campus. There has to be that economical option for our students,” Brandon said.
So whether you’re craving pizza, tacos or sushi, the food trucks on campus are there and they aren’t showing any signs of slowing down.