AUSTIN — School lunch is getting a little more hip in Austin. The Austin Independent School District is rolling out a new food truck to serve food for hundreds of kids each day.
The food truck is called "Food 4 Thought," and it's the third food truck the district has.
"Growing up and eating school lunches gets old after a while," said Diego Saldana, an 11th-grade student at Austin High School.
Saldana said the new food truck brings relief from everyday cafeteria food.
"You typically just get a meat-and-cheese burger like everyone else," he said. "Over here, you'll get something special."
"It's amazing what can happen in a food truck," said food blogger Ali Khan, who came to the high school to offer encouraging words to culinary arts students. "It's passion that will drive you towards success because it's not the greatest pay and it's really hard work."
A growing number of school districts across the country are getting grants to bring food trucks to school campuses, and about 250 universities own a food truck.
This food truck frenzy comes with no extra cost, students pay the same amount as they would in the cafeteria including free and reduced lunches.
"So many times kids ask if they have to pay, all they need is their student identification number," said Louis Ortiz, Chef with Austin ISD. "Their face lights up because they can eat here."
This new food truck is giving students the opportunity to taste something new and broaden their taste buds in style.
"It's definitely nice to have a different option than cafeteria food," Saldana explained. "It's not something you see every day, so it definitely catches your eye."
For the first time this year, AISD will be rotating their food trucks to different middle schools, they will also have them at elementary schools on special occasions.