Thursday night saw the reveal of “Snow Day,” the first in what founders hope to be a series of social justice food trucks to help formerly incarcerated youth onto the road to prosperity. The Brooklyn Navy Yard event drew back the curtains on this jewel-on-wheels, with promising advance tastes of the maple-themed menu Snow Day will be delivering.
First mentioned by Edible Manhattan in this summer’s cover story on Rikers Island’s horticulture program, Drive Change aims to be an armada of mobile restaurants serving up sweet and savory fare to New Yorkers while providing vocational training and jobs for post-incarcerated youth.
The brainchild of Wesleyan grad Jordyn Lexton, who taught English for three years at Rikers Island’s East River Academy high school, the food fleet is her proactive response to high recidivism and low employment rates among these students upon reentry. Along with co-founder Annie Bickerton, the team hopes to address some of the primary factors leading to re-offense.
While the social change aspect drives the mission, it’s the food that Lexton and Bickerton hope will win customers’ hearts and earn the enterprise legitimacy.
According to Bickerton, the venue will be “a modern sugar shack with a local, sustainable menu.” Tempting highlights, such as maple-braised pulled pork sliders, maple bacon Brussels sprouts with balsamic maple reduction, maple grilled cheese made with New York State cheddar, and maple bacon donuts, are sure to call your name as you pass by, so make sure you do.
Snow Day—a former Con Edison truck shell retrofitted by noted Bushwick engineers Shanghai Stainless and Brooklyn Navy Yard fabricators Situ Studio—already has its own line of merch, proceeds from which will also go to fund the venture, which is awaiting final licensing before its launch.
Look for Snow Day’s debut in mid-January and read the full story on Drive Change in Edible Manhattan‘s Spring 2014 Innovations issue.
