Grill Benzie from Grow Benzie

New food truck puts farm-to-table on wheels

Agentle breeze runs through the tall prairie grasses alongside a dirt and gravel parking lot. A few squash vines are beginning to sprawl nearby in a community garden plot. Beside it, three large hoop houses full of tomatoes loom large.

Hiding from the afternoon sun, market vendors sell everything from eggplant to emu meat on tables beneath small pop-up tents. Patrons wander the market in pairs, leafy greens erupting from the tops of their reusable totes.

The smell of bacon hangs in the air. A quiet crowd gathers around a fire-engine-red food truck. Compostable glassware and a bright orange jug filled with fresh iced tea sit atop a stainless steel perch just outside the food truck window, along with sriracha sauce and a few straws. A large piece of white paper is draped over a freestanding sign, and today’s menu is handwritten in black marker: shredded beef tacos, beans and rice, veggie burrito, bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich—all for under $6 per meal. All with mix and match sides. All à la carte.

“I’ve been looking forward to trying the tacos on opening day, but when I smelled the bacon, I knew I had to try both,” says Josh Stoltz, between mouthfuls of an ooeygooey grilled sandwich, seeping with Traverse City’s Naturally Nutty peanut butter, bacon from Honor Family Market and local honey from Grow Benzie market vendors.

For just over a year and a half, Josh has served as executive director of Grow Benzie, a nonprofit that has been creating positive change in Benzie County for nearly eight years. With a mission of enriching the lives of Benzie County residents by increasing access to healthy foods, jobs and life skills, the organization has programs to fulfill each niche.

For instance, there are 27 community garden plots available for a $25 seasonal rental fee, which includes access to water, garden tools and support from Grow Benzie staff. There is Hive Minded, an after-school program in which youth at Benzie Central High School learn basic carpentry and woodworking skills as they build bee boxes for Sharon and Kirk Jones’s honeybee-inspired Benzie business trifecta: Sleeping Bear Farms honey, St. Ambrose Cellars meadery and BeeDazzled soap and candle shop. There are classes for the public ranging from composting to cheesemaking, from chocolate tasting to an introduction to beekeeping.

And now there is Grill Benzie, a food truck that will primarily serve produce that is grown in Grow Benzie’s own gardens, in addition to foods that are bought at local farmers’ markets. Through a partnership with Goodwill, Grow Benzie is utilizing the MI Fresh Start food truck for the summer. The truck has previously been used as a job-training program, in which trainees in the greater Grand Traverse region learn the ins and outs of a rovingfood-business model, including both “back-of-the-house” food prep and “front-of-the-house” customer service.

The same is still true of the bright red food truck: Grill Benzie will provide workforce training, support local agriculture and offer affordable fresh food options, only now with a focus on serving the Benzie County community.

“The whole idea is to feature whatever is fresh and in season,” Josh says. “This food is traveling 100 feet from where it’s grown, not 1,000 miles. And we’re teaching people every step of the way.”

Errik Malmstrom will manage all things that go on behind the food truck window. With a culinary background that includes The Homestead and Manitou Passage, Errik came highly recommended. His menu will change throughout the growing season, with a special emphasis on Southwest flavors: