Culinary Arts Add Food Trailer

Public Information Office
7/10/2024

Iowa Central Adds Culinary Food Trailer

Culinary students at Iowa Central will be bringing an exciting new opportunity to our area communities this fall.

After serving at the Triton Stampede, Shellabration, Downtown Country Jam, and many other community events from the back of their culinary van, our Culinary students will now be able to prepare and serve food from a new state-of-the-art food trailer.

Custom built by a Miami, Florida-based company specializing in food trucks, the college purchased the trailer with the help of Perkins Funds, which provides federal support for career and technical education (CTE) programs in all 50 states, as well as funds raised by the Culinary students that had been saved over many years. 

“It is built to specifications just as Chef (Michael Hirst, Iowa Central Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Program Coordinator) requested it,” said Neale Adams, Dean of Career and Technical Education. “It has a hood and all equipment required for it to be up to Iowa Code.”

The trailer is fully equipped with a refrigerator, freezer, fryers, a flat top, gas grill, oven and proofing cupboard and is air conditioned to allow students to work comfortably even in the warmest summer months. It will accommodate up to seven students working at one time.

“Chef and I were talking about the different ways we could prepare students for up-and-coming trends in the hospitality industry, and food trucks are definitely in,” said Adams. “In the cities where many of our students want to go work, there is a large population of food trucks and trailers, so it seemed a natural fit for us to have one.”

“We wanted to do something different for our students,” said Hirst. “They’ve done a lot of dinners and fine dining experiences at Willow Ridge, and we wanted to do something different so they can get the experience of preparing and serving food with speed.”

It will be a quick transition for students from fine dining to the food trailer. “They’ll be at Willow Ridge on Wednesdays and Thursdays and will be ready Friday morning to set up and work the trailer.”

The possibilities are endless with the tools the trailer comes equipped with. “It’s a mobile kitchen, really,” he said. “We’ll be able to do multiple types of cuisine - sushi, bowls, Asian dishes. It has a lot of power outlets so we can plug in additional equipment - roasters, pizza ovens. We should be able to serve everything from a roasted hog to pizzas.”

“We’re excited to get started with it this fall. It’s going to be a great learning opportunity for our students and a fun experience for our faculty, staff, and communities.”