The center of UF’s campus will have a new food service.
UF Business Services is beginning a trial run for four food trucks to sell food on campus once a week for four weeks, said Jenn Moyer, the spokesperson for Business Services.
The food trucks will be available Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the grass lot between Fifield Hall and the microbiology building near Lake Alice.
There will be a different truck selling food each week starting Wednesday, Moyer said.
Big Island Bowls, a food truck that sells acai bowls, will be the first to start the trial.
Selling burgers and fries, Loagies will be the next food truck available March 18, Moyer said. PDQ, a fast-food chicken restaurant, will be on campus on March 25. To finish the trial, Soup to Nuts, a food truck that sells soups and sandwiches, will be on campus on April 1.
Staff at the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences requested business services to perform the trial, Moyer said.
“People on that side of campus have been asking for food services, but it is very hard to build there,” Moyer said. “Hopefully, we can give them some better options, and they won’t have to leave their office.”
Eric Triplett, professor and chair of the microbiology and cell sciences department of IFAS, requested food truck services last Fall semester, and Business Services started working with him.
Triplett said that he thinks there is a big need for food services at that location because there are five departments of IFAS in the area, and there are enough people to support a weekly food truck service. He thinks there are not enough food options for the number of people there.
Triplett believes there will be a positive reaction to the food truck services starting, and it will have good results.
“This is a great opportunity to get food around campus without building any more infrastructures,” Triplett said.
Wilcley Lima, the associate director of Business Services, said the idea for the food truck has been going on for a couple of months. He expects a turnout of more than 100 customers.
“The location chosen is an area where there are too few people to support a permanent food service location, but there are enough people where a food truck may make sense,” Lima said.
Lima said the food trucks do not have a formal relationship with UF, but they operate as subcontractors with UF’s food service provider Aramark.
He said that Aramark has worked with these food trucks for several years, and they have sold food on campus before for special events like Gator Growl.
Peter Sturgeon, 26, stands outside his food truck, Soup to Nuts, as he prepares for an event at First Magnitude Brewery.
