PROVIDENCE – Thirteen local school systems will receive food trucks as part of the R.I. Department of Education’s new $1.6 million Menu for Success Student Food Truck Initiative.
RIDE on Wednesday said each school system will receive a food truck and associated supports that promote entrepreneurship, culinary arts, automotive learning and graphic design. RIDE says the program will benefit communities by providing internship and job opportunities, concessions at games and work sites, presence at community events, fundraising and community service opportunities.
RIDE spokesperson Victor Morente told Providence Business News the department is trying to think outside the box to prepare students for college and beyond. It created the Menu for Success program because, Morente said, it not only offers new educational opportunities, but also promotes equity in Rhode Island’s robust food industry.
Schools in Central Falls, Chariho, Coventry, Cranston, East Providence, Lincoln, Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, Warwick, Westerly and Woonsocket, as well as the William M. Davies Jr. Career and Technical High School in Lincoln, will receive the food trucks, the department said.
Central Falls School Superintendent Stephanie Downey Toledo in a statement said the city’s school system does not have a culinary program and is grateful for a unique way to develop food-service opportunities for city students. In Coventry, School Superintendent Don Cowart said students receive restaurant industry training and apply those skills in the school district’s full-service restaurant, the Knotty Oak Room. Adding the food truck program will help Coventry students become more exposed to the food industry, Cowart said.
RIDE says the food trucks, each costing $125,000, will be customized according to the school systems’ needs, and will be delivered in the spring. RIDE is also planning an annual fall event where all 13 food trucks will come together to celebrate the state’s culinary arts.
“The job skills that students will learn through this program, [such as] automotive repair, the culinary arts and entrepreneurship, are evergreen paths to good-paying jobs,” Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos said in a statement. “These food trucks are a major opportunity to do more than teach our students. It’s a chance to truly engage them and make them excited about their coursework. Our [Minority Business Entity] Incubator program is continuing to deliver for students across the state.”
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James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
