The permitting process for the red lunch truck at Upper Campus is nearly complete after the establishment’s closure since Oct. 10. Associate Head of School Kyle Riches has been cooperating with the Santa Clara County health inspector and Epicurean staff to reopen the truck as soon as possible.

  “We were aiming to have everything done in January,” Riches said. “We’re getting close. It could be resolved within the next couple of weeks.”

   The truck, which had been operating without problems for the last three years, suddenly required a new type of permit after a change in health guidelines. The new guidelines are stricter in terms of food establishment categorization than the prior one.

   “The short story is that it’s a permitting problem,” Riches said. “Santa Clara County updated its health guidelines, and even though our food truck doesn’t act like a typical food truck, it needed to be permitted as one.”

   While Pinewood’s permit is awaiting official approval, the school has changed how lunch operates.

   “Because we don’t have a serving area here besides the truck, everything is now prepared at a commercial kitchen,

brought in portable warmers, and

served on tables,” Riches said.

  The food used to be prepared at the Lower Campus kitchen by the Epicurean staff, but Riches emphasized that the interim solution doesn’t compromise the safety of the food preparation. Meals are freshly prepared, just like before, but now packaged in plastic to accommodate the new logistics.

   For students worried about the implications of the plastic containers sitting in warmers for hours, Riches assured that this method of distribution is common practice among local schools.

   “A lot of other schools around here [package lunches in plastic] because not everyone has a kitchen,” Riches

said. “It’s prepared the exact same way as it would be at Lower Campus.”

   The permitting delay temporarily limits the menu options, though improvements are coming soon. Riches said that the lunch team has been working on adding new meals to the menu that are set to debut as soon as the truck is allowed to serve food again.

   Freshman Arya Agarwal is excited for the classic menu items to come back but is also ready for change.

   “I really miss the old chicken teriyaki, and I think everyone has been waiting for it to return,” Agarwal said. “I’m curious as to what’s included in the new menu, but I guess we just have to wait.”