Interdisciplinary studies in social science senior Logan O’Neil, right, hands political science senior Shalah Keith a cheeseburger May 24, 2013, inside the Eat at State ON-THE-GO food truck outside of the Auditorium. The Smoked Cheddar Cheeseburger won an award from the National Association of College and University Food Services. Julia Nagy/The State News
While MSU is constantly making changes to cafeterias and menus, one thing won’t need to be changed, the food truck’s cheeseburgers.
Eat at State ON-THE-GO food truck’s Smoked Cheddar Cheeseburger won an award for the Best Local Foods Recipe from the National Association of College and University Food Services, or NACUFS.
“It’s pretty funny when a cheeseburger wins, that means something special went into it,” Best Local Foods Recipe Award Chair Tom Murray said. “Kudos to MSU.”
Murray, who also is the executive chef at Eastern Michigan University, chaired the committee, which included three chefs and two dietitians. The award recognizes and encourages the use of locally produced foods by showcasing the efforts of those who use locally produced ingredients.
“It was a close competition, it wasn’t easy to decide,” Murray said. “Five or six of the ingredients were made on campus, and the recipe book submitted by the school was very easy to read.”
The food truck started as an extension of Culinary Services when The Vista at Shaw Hall was closed for construction.
“We wanted to have a signature item, something we could hit a home run with,” Culinary Services’ Corporate Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski said.
Starting the second week of this past September, the food truck has been out almost every day, as long as the temperatures were 15-20 degrees or above.
“We make each burger made-to-order,” Kwiatkowski said. “It’s the most popular item on the truck’s menu.”
Ingredients for the burger come from cattle raised at MSU, cheese from the MSU Dairy Store, onions and tomatoes from the MSU Student Organic Farm and the MSU Bakers, Kwiatkowki said.
“People want to know where their food comes from, how it’s grown and prepared,” said Culinary Services’ Culinary Coordinator and registered dietitian Gina Keilen.
“It improves the quality of the food when you can pick it up down the road,” Keilen said.
Journalism senior Kevin Burrows promoted the cheeseburger in a photo shoot, but wasn’t allowed to actually eat the burger while taking pictures.
“I could taste it, I just couldn’t eat it,” Burrows said. “It was hard to resist the temptation.”
While Burrows wasn’t able to eat the burger right away, he said it was worth the wait.
“(The cheeseburger) was divine.”
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