New Intiative To Eat Healthy At Food Trucks

Food trucks aren't known for being the healthiest food choice, but University of Pennsylvania students Robert Hsu, Mitch Gissinger and Jessica Chen are working to change that through the Healthy Food Truck Initiative.

The program is designed to promote healthy choices at sidewalk lunch spots and help reverse the obesity epidemic. According to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, currently 900,000 of 1.5 million residents in Philadelphia are overweight or obese.

Hsu told NBC10 Philadelphia the idea came to him after conducting a survey at the University of Pennsylvania. His findings showed that many people avoid food trucks because they are perceived as unhealthy, despite the fact that there are some food trucks that "sort of" do the healthy thing.

The initiative will help food trucks purchase healthier drinks such as water and juices as well as advertise healthy menu options. It will also push for nutritional information to be posted.

Three trucks, including Magic Carpet food truck and Chez Yasmine, have already expressed interest in working with Hsu. The crowd funded project has already raised $1,000.

The initiative will start working with food trucks in September and launch the campaign in October. If all goes well, Hsu hopes to expand the project in the spring.