Investigation of Food Trucks

By JAYDEN OH, AARYAN PATEL, KEVIN THANT, and ANDREW YANG

Famously, one of Student Council’s presidential candidates last year, Meishu Han, declared that she would bring back food trucks every day of the week. Food trucks and Quad hangouts are two terms many students love to see. For many students, although not often, food trucks on campus are a popular option and a greatly needed break from Elm Street Dining Hall’s food. Food trucks were a great addition to campus throughout the pandemic; however, since then, they have only appeared a few times throughout the year for special events. For this edition, The Exonian spoke with the Student Activities and Student Council to uncover the logistics and challenges with food trucks that have led to their departure.

“Before Covid, food trucks were used very sparingly only for super special occasions,” Director of Student Activities Joanne Lembo shared. “On campus during Covid, the food trucks actually became another way of feeding our students because we needed to help retract the load on the dining halls because we couldn’t safely put that many students in there.” 

“Also during COVID, because we couldn’t have large activities inside, we turned to food trucks to have some fun things to do for students that we could keep spaced out,” said Lembo.

These special circumstances are now the only times food trucks can be seen on campus. This explains the sentiment that many old students and seniors of last year’s graduating class held. Many seniors last year reminisced about days when food trucks were a common sight on campus, and students could have them frequently.

“A few years ago, especially during COVID times, we had a lot of food truck options to supplement regular dining. Having a variety of changing options was nice,” alumnus Will Soh ‘24 commented. 

Student Council President Cam Khater agreed on the need for a resurgence of food trucks: “We try to plan food truck events for times we think spirits should be lifted around the community.”

The Council’s Recreation Committee cohead Andrew Gould gave us insight into how they plan events and quad hangouts for students: “We pick out what food trucks we want and recommend them to student activities. Then typically StuCo would pay half, and Student Activities would pay the other half.” When asked about the frequency in which the Recreation Committee could host food trucks, Gould commented, “We could get a bunch of food trucks a year, but that would mean we would have to start using more of STUCO’s budget.”

The Council’s Treasury cohead, Sangwoo Kim, explained the challenge and unsustainability with food trucks. “It’s definitely the cost,” he said. “We only have so much money in the StuCo treasury that it makes it not possible to do it directly from StuCo. One night a food truck costs around $5,000. So it’s just not possible to do it long term.” 

This challenge with regards to the funding has been amplified recently. “When the Academy had food trucks two years ago, it was out of the schools funding, not the Student Council funding,” Kim explained.

Food trucks are now reserved only for special events. “Generally, the school and StuCo have to collaborate and try to do it on special weekends like E/A or dance weekend,” said Kim. 

Bringing food trucks to campus is cost-prohibitive for both Student Activities and Student Council. The good news is, both departments will continue trying their best to seek donations and assistance from the administration to fund future food truck events, as they understand how food trucks are one of the most beloved additions to our campus.