Food Truck Initiative Brings Jamaican Cuisine to Students
Students and faculty waited eagerly in a line that stretched across the sidewalk in front of Soule Hall to enjoy Exeter’s first “Food Truck Friday” on Apr. 7. The food truck of the week—Boogalows Island BBQ—served Jamaican cuisine and island-style barbecue.A representative of the business, David Bridgeo, explained that Boogalows prepares dishes using “authentic jerk pork and chicken with Jamaican rice and Peas (coconut flavored red beans and rice).” According to Bridgeo, these main ingredients provide the foundation for their menu. “We use those main ingredients in our meals, meat dishes, jerk-a-rito (jerk burrito) and pork on a bun,” Bridgeo said. “We accompany those main items with some Island BBQ items and some burgers and Jamaican beef patties.” Their varied and rich menu was introduced to Sharee Bridgeo, David Bridgeo’s wife, by her mother, who comes from Trelawny, Jamaica.
“We were very happy and warmly received by all students that came out and were surprised to see we had a pretty long line before we even started serving.”
The initiative to bring food trucks to campus was spearheaded by upper and Student Council Secretary, Jackson Parell. Parell explained that his motivation to invite food trucks to Exeter was to “bring some life back to this campus. It’s too often that we forget the wonderful culture that the New Hampshire and Boston area has to offer,” he said. “With food truck Friday, I was hoping to bring a little bit of that culture to our campus and maybe, in doing so, brighten some people's day.”Parell credited Student Activities coordinator Daisy Jobarteh for working with Student Council to bring food trucks to campus. “Together, we had to find food trucks who would be willing to come to campus, then validate their insurance policy, and finally get them passed through campus safety,” he said. “It required a surprising amount of interdepartmental collaboration.”The food, according to many students, was a hit. Prep David Kim said that he was excited to eat “something other than D-Hall food,” saying, “I loved the feeling of eating authentic Jamaican food.” Lower Elias Issa, a Jamaican student himself, did not eat the food because of his vegetarianism but said that the “atmosphere was nice and from what I could tell, the food was authentic.”However, some people were unaware of the food truck. Prep Jill Cloonan said that she wished she had known about the event earlier and regretted not attending. Parell explained that he planned to announce the food truck during Friday’s assembly, but that assembly was canceled last minute so he was unable to do so.Despite the food truck’s limited promotion, the line was several dozen yards long throughout the evening. “One thing I regret is that I didn’t order enough food because I couldn’t go back for seconds since the line was too long,” Kim commented. For Justin Psaris, the long lines were worth the wait. “I was with my friends and hanging out and the line was moving fast,” he added.The owners of the business also expressed pleasure with the enthusiasm they received at Exeter. “We were very happy and warmly received by all students that came out and were surprised to see we had a pretty long line before we even started serving,” Bridgeo said. She also praised the Exeter students for cleaning up after themselves. “There was very little trash left in the area after the event, (it) certainly shows great pride [of the] school and its grounds,” she added.Looking to the future, Parell hopes to invite multiple food trucks to campus to offer a greater variety of foods, drinks and experiences for the student body. “We will also be looking attract trucks with some vegetarian-vegan options,” he said. He also hopes that these food trucks will give the community an opportunity to congregate and share food and conversation. “It is too often that we get caught up in our daily routine,” he said. “Maybe food trucks will help us, in some way, to break away from it."