The Arizona Student Unions will introduce its first mobile food option to students this fall.
The food truck concept was created last August as a response to the recent national trend of food trucks, as well as the genuine interest that the UA community has shown, according to Jason Tolliver, director of Arizona Student Unions.
Not only is it a fresh concept to campus, Tolliver said, but it will also assist the student unions in serving other parts of the campus community, due to its ability to move from location to location. The unions are hoping to engage the truck in campus events throughout the year.
The food truck is a student-developed concept, just like other additions to the student unions, including Sabor, IQ Fresh and Core. This idea was approached in the same way, and is designed specifically to engage students, Tolliver said.
“We talked with the students in Dr. Jackson Boelts’ art class about creating potential concepts for the food truck,” Tolliver said. “We’ve narrowed it down to three, which are now down in the food court at the union, to get students’ feedback on what they think about the concept.”
Tolliver said there is a voting booth set up in the Student Union Memorial Center that will allow students to provide their opinions. The voting booth will be in the union until the end of next week.
There will not be a specific menu for the food truck, Tolliver said. Instead, the menu will go through different rotations based on student demand for specific foods.
Robert Nelson, a global studies sophomore, said he eats on campus twice a day and would definitely make use of the food truck as long as it accepted CatCard money as a form of payment.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Nelson said. “I would hope that they would strategically place them around campus where there are people who don’t have food options and aren’t near the unions.”
Nelson said he also hopes that the food truck will offer healthy options.
Kaloni Philipp, a physiology junior, because hopes to see international food options, because the union options can get old.
“It would be cool to see something different,” Philipp said. “Maybe like a sushi truck.”
Not only will the food truck introduce new meal options, it will also provide new job opportunities for students, Tolliver said.
“The student union employs about 1,000 students,” Tolliver said, “so we are big believers in
student employment, and giving students the opportunity to work while in school,”
Tolliver said students have been active in providing feedback, and there was a long line at the voting booth over the weekend.
“It’s a new and exciting piece that will be able to supplement the other things on campus,” Tolliver said. “Sometimes students feel somewhat remote to our facilities, so it will be a nice addition.”
