Student Life hosted FMU’s monthly Food Truck Thursday on Feb. 8 on the Smith University Center (UC) Lawn, referred to as Five Points.
The food trucks present varied from desserts to Mexican food and from crepes to rice bowls.
“My favorite food was probably the food truck with crepes and rice bowls because the crepes were so good, but not in large portions like the funnel cake, so there was no reason to waste food or overeat,” Thinh Tran, senior biology major, said. “The food truck also has rice bowls, which are very healthy, and they actually offered me a free drink, and that drink was delicious.”
Tran recommends that next time the event should be held longer, as more students would be able to come out and enjoy it.
“Food Truck Thursday could be a lot better if they could extend the time of the event because many of the students are usually about to go to the lab or must be in the lab, so many students miss the event,” Tran said.
Tran also believes the addition of more food trucks would help add more variety to the event.
“It could also be better with more than three food trucks at a time because the line can be very long with limited trucks,” Tran said. “Food trucks with wings are also a good addition to every food truck, which did not have wings in this past event.”
Student life specialist for student engagement Evelyn Prosser said that Food Truck Thursday is one of her favorite events to organize and host on campus.
“Planning a Food Truck Thursday is one of my favorite events to plan because it brings a unique blend of participants out to UC Five Points,” Prosser said. “It requires a lot of emails, phone calls and even a few texts to ensure that everyone knows when to arrive, where to go and what to bring. Logistically, there is also planning for what food trucks to request as a way to bring a variety of different flavors and cuisines, as well as including fan favorites.”
Prosser sees Food Truck Thursdays being a regular event on the Student Life activities calendar. In the future, she would like to expand the event so that it encompasses more than just food trucks.
“I see Food Truck Thursdays as a staple on the activities calendar, but we would love to do even more – maybe add live music, or other fun novelty activities to make it more than just a lunch break, but a monthly festival everyone can enjoy,” Prosser said. “We would also love to know what the students think of the event, to help make it even more inviting.”
Besides Prosser, there were a lot of other people involved in making the event happen for
students on campus.
“The truck owners themselves, as well as myself, make up a large portion of the planning and implementation of the event – but as always, we wouldn’t be able to put on events such as this without the help of our building and ground maintenance teams who help keep our campus looking amazing, and setting up other items such as tents, trash cans, tables and more,” Prosser said.
Students have been enjoying Food Truck Thursday every month so far this year. They have appreciated both the novelty of the dishes and the fair prices.
Senior middle-level education major, A’Bria Moore, really enjoyed Food Truck Thursday because it gave students a break from their everyday meals all while being affordable.
“I really like Food Truck Thursday because it brings a variety of food to campus that we don’t always get to have on an everyday basis,” Moore said. “It also gives students a break from the cafeteria, or from cooking. It makes eating out affordable for us students, which I personally really appreciate.”