From Roach Coaches to Gourmet on the Go

Doctoral student Daphne Demetry ’10 MA delved into the food truck phenomenon. Since 2008, when Kogi BBQ, a Korean taco fusion truck, appeared on the streets of Los Angeles, food trucks have grown increasingly popular — there are now more than 4,000 in cities with at least 100,000 people — yet at disproportionate rates across the country. Portland, for example, has three times more food trucks than Dallas, a city twice its size. Demetry and her research partner, Todd Schifeling, a sociology doctoral student at the University of Michigan, analyzed more than 4,000 Twitter bios to create a comprehensive picture of how food-truck operators and their customers define themselves. The cities with the most food trucks showed higher percentages of college graduates and “creative workers,” such as architects, journalists, artists and entrepreneurs. They argue that the growth in the number of food trucks can be explained by the “new authenticity economy,” a shift toward selling products and services that are unique, local and eclectic. Demetry and Schifeling presented the study at the American Sociological Association in August.