The Healthy Food Truck Initiative

Food trucks are a mainstay lunch option for many students around campus because of their convenience and low prices (You can get a giant hoagie from Lyn’s for $5!). However, many times the healthiness of these options takes a back seat to convenience, and it seems that a student is doomed to choosing between health and money.

The Healthy Food Truck Initiative was started for this very problem. Created and run by Penn students and supported through the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, the HFTI strives to connect health-conscious consumers with healthy food truck options by making those healthy trucks more visible.  HFTI in conjunction with the Food Trust has created a certification program for food trucks to go through in order to become certified as “healthy” by the HFTI. With the help of Penn professors and the Food Trust, the students created a checklist for the trucks to fill out to determine whether they qualify for the “healthy food truck” label, and if they don’t, HFTI can provide nutritional counseling so trucks can modify their offerings until they are certifiable.  The group is certifying trucks all over Philly, and so far has certified three trucks on campus: Magic Carpet, Chez Yasmine, and Schmear It.

Many food trucks have expressed interest in becoming certified, and HFTI tells me they even have a backlog of applications. This is great news, because it means there will be many more healthy and convenient options to go around.  Keep an eye out for the HFTI sticker on your next food truck run!

-Elena Crouch