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Southern Tier Life / June 2021 / ISSUE 004
THE RISE OF FOOD TRUCKS Photo: Jaran Reid
writen by Sheri Hughey While planning a trip to the Bay Area in California four years ago, one experience ranking high on my list of things to do was grabbing some grub, grazing in the grass, and chilling at a food truck park. And behold, there I was, at the Presidio of San Francisco, on a sumptuous sunny day, the funky, “get up and shake what your momma gave ya’” music of live band, and, those aromas -- not the ones of that organic smoked substance (however, undeniably prevalent)-- but of the glorious fare representing a myriad of cuisines, from soup (Pho) to (dough) nuts, that permeated the brisk Spring air from a gazillion food trucks; well, maybe not a gazillion, but more than I could count.
1872 in Rhode Island where a vendor named Walter Scott parked his covered wagon in front of a local newspaper office in Providence. Mr. Scott peddled sandwiches, pies, and coffee. His customers were pressmen and journalists of the newspaper who worked the late shift. Other sources credit Charles Goodnight, of Texas, as the first food truck operator. Mr. Goodnight is recognized for inventing the chuckwagon which was a type of covered wagon kitchen. The chuckwagon fed cattle herders and cowboys back in the day. It is interesting that also, during this time, smoke aromas fragranced the air of the chuckwagons along the smell of Enjoying the sunny day at a Food Truck Park According to The New York Times Magprepared hearty meals. History has in San Francisco. azine, food trucks can be traced back to it recorded that Mr. Goodnight was
