National Food Truck Day Date in the current year: June 28, 2024

A food truck is a van (or another large motorized vehicle) or trailer that is equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Food trucks are popular in many countries around the world; along with food carts and food booths, they are a major part of the global street food industry.

The history of food trucks in the United States dates back to the mid-19th century. Early precursors to modern American food trucks were chuckwagons and lunch wagons. Chuckwagons were covered wagons that Texas ranchers used to store and transport food and cooking equipment after the American Civil War. The first lunch wagon was opened in 1872 by Walter Scott, a food vendor from Providence, Rhode Island. Scott sold coffee, pies and sandwiches from a small covered wagon parked in front of a newspaper office, catering mainly to journalists and pressmen.

Throughout the 20th century, mobile food trucks were primarily associated with affordable meals. They were often parked at factories, construction sites, and other blue-collar locations. The In the 1950s, the U.S. Army started to operate mobile canteens on its stateside bases; these canteens are widely regarded as a type of food truck.

A trend of food trucks selling gourmet began to gain popularity in the 2010s, largely due to the Great Recession. The construction business was experiencing a downturn, leading to a surplus of food trucks that used to cater to construction workers. At the same time, a number of high-end restaurants had to close down, and experienced chiefs suddenly found themselves out of work. Some of them had enough money saved to open their own business, and a food truck seemed like a safer choice compared to a traditional restaurant.

Today, there are tens of thousands of food trucks in the United States, selling all kinds of food and drinks: hot dogs and burgers, sandwiches, barbecue, freshly squeezed juices and smoothies, coffee, tacos and burritos, ice cream, pizza, fried chicken, waffles, donuts, pastries, seafood, and even sushi. They are a popular type of small business because of their low startup and operation costs – and because people love food trucks!

National Food Truck Day was launched in 2016 by Roaming Hunger, a California-based food truck booking service that allows people to locate food trucks in their city in real time, book food trucks for various events, and engage food trucks for promotional and advertising purposes. The main goals of the holiday are to support local food trucks across the United States.

Like other small businesses, food trucks are essential to their communities, and the best way to support them is to buy from them! On the last Friday of June, get lunch from one of your favorite food trucks, dessert from another, and coffee from the third to support as many small businesses as you can. And don’t forget to snap a photo of your meal and post it on social media with the hashtags #NationalFoodTruckDay and #FoodTruckDay to spread the word about the holiday and encourage you friends to support their favorite food trucks.