At 4:45 p.m. Saturday, sociology senior Jessica Targosz still had hours of waiting ahead of her as she stood in front of the Spartan Stadium student section hoping to see a win over Notre Dame.
Although MSU’s loss to the Fighting Irish would eliminate those hopes a few hours later, Targosz still was able to attain one goal while waiting with her classmates: a bottle of water to quench her thirst.
Targosz was one of many game attendees who were able to get a quick fix for their hunger or thirst, thanks to the new Eat At State On-The-Go food truck that debuted at the stadium this weekend.
The Eat At State On-The-Go truck is MSU’s first mobile food vendor and hopefully will appeal to MSU community members whose needs were not being met with stationary cafeterias and Sparty’s convenience stores, said Bruce Haskell, associate director of Residential Dining.
The truck serves items such as chicken sandwiches, wraps and cheeseburgers featuring ingredients sourced from MSU farms.
“It’s kind of hard when you are walking around and you’re hungry and you don’t want to go to a cafeteria on campus,” Targosz said.
She said the new food truck is a good solution to the issue and added she looks forward to using it in the future.
Haskell said the food truck has been in discussion for a number of years now and was based on similar programs at other universities that had success with on-the-go food services.
The truck will be open for business at each home football game and is scheduled to be stationed from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in front of Shaw Hall, said chef Kurt Kwiatkowski, who runs the new food truck.
“(We’ll) primarily focus around Shaw because of the construction that Shaw is undergoing so the students have more options,” Haskell said. “Eventually, we’ll see them (serving) all over the place.”
Haskell said business hours and location might change later if different times and places are determined to be a better fit. He said the hope is to have enough business that another truck would become necessary.
The truck’s student manager, Kelly Mackie, a hospitality business sophomore, said that after her experience working on other food trucks the On-The-Go truck is especially exciting. She said much of the food comes from local sources.
The vehicle runs on electricity and has a much smaller carbon footprint than other on-campus options.
“The food truck has the ability like never before to reach … people, and also it’s a way that there’s finally a dialogue (with customers),” Mackie said.
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