A new lunch option will be coming soon for all AISD students, and the food will be served from a food truck. The “Nacho Average” food truck will rotate through all AISD high school campuses every day and will be serving a variety of menu items to choose from.

A food truck has been purchased and will be visiting school campus and other AISD events.

“The Nacho Average Food Truck will rotate each day between all Austin ISD high school campuses, visiting each campus approximately every 12 days,” AISD marketing specialist for nutrition food and services Lindsey Bradley said. “The food truck will also be available for rental for AISD events after school hours, such as sporting events. When the truck is at Bowie, students can visit the truck for a healthy breakfast and lunch.”

Principles of Hospitality teacher Jean Frazier is concerned that students won’t enjoy the food due to it being something that AISD already offers or has offered in the past.

“I’m excited to hear that they are open to the idea of a food truck, but my concern is who is going to be the one in charge of distributing the food that is in there,” Frazier said. “I feel like it would be better if it was some of our neighboring businesses like Torchy’s Tacos or other companies that use food trucks and not just more AISD food. I eat in the cafeteria every day and it’s not really much of a treat because some days are good and some are just not so good.”

Some of the food that the food truck will be serving is already being served on campus in the cafeteria like several different tacos.

“The food truck that is going around will be offering what we offer on our Taco Tuesdays,” cafeteria manager Stephen Hendrickson said. “It will be the pork carnitas, fish tacos, veggie tacos, or the barbacoa. I think the truck will be a great idea for schools to offer to students who may not be able to go off campus.”

For junior Alyssah Lugo having a food truck on campus could really help with underclassmen who have stay on campus.

“I feel like having a food truck will just offer more diversity in the lunch choices we have here on campus,” Lugo said. “So many people sneak off every day and some of the things people do to sneak off campus is just so crazy and dangerous that having an on campus choice from an off campus food place will impact us positively.”

One of the reasons that the food truck was purchased was to offer a on-campus option for underclassmen who are not allowed to go off campus.

“By creating a menu that focuses on the types of food students may leave campus for, we hope the food truck will provide options on campus, for all grade levels to enjoy, in a safe and convenient location,” Bradley said. “We also know that the food truck menu will also offer tasty items often healthier than the food they may choose off-campus.  The meals are also a great value for all that you can select; a student breakfast is just $1.50 and student lunch is $2.85, much less than outside options.”

For Frazier, her concern is that not all the food will taste as good as it usually does on some days compared to others.

“The most popular day is the Taco Tuesday and it’s delicious and there are days when the food is good like the taco day and days when they serve the vegetable lasagna,” Frazier said. “But there are days when it’s just gross, so what’s gonna be the advantage of putting the food on a truck versus a line and that is what concerns me. They just need something different from what they offer in line.”

For Lugo the food in the cafeteria has never been something she has enjoyed.

“The cafeteria food has always been gross to me,” Lugo said. “It just never tastes good and I feel like students would enjoy the food more if the cafeteria offered more better tasting options. I really hope this food does that.”

For Bradley the food truck is also going to be teaching students about culture and have something on campus that is a big part of the Austin culture.

“We’re committed to providing increased access to tasty, healthy food for all students.  By introducing a mobile food truck, we hope to expose students to new global flavors in a contemporary way,” Bradley said. “Food trucks are a part of the Austin culture and by bringing this innovative service method to Austin ISD students, we hope to create more excitement around school cuisine.”