Dayton’s newest food truck hopes to conjure a healthier, happier city
Within the past couple of years, the food truck scene in Dayton and surrounding cities has grown to include a number of compelling cuisines and creators. The latest in this emergence of culinary talent? Jessica Benson of The Wild Banana food truck.
For the past few months, Benson, a Virginia Beach native, has been working hard to create a local food truck that offers a bit more to the health-conscious Daytonian. Before crafting The Wild Banana, Benson worked in the restaurant industry.
The Wild Banana food truck will feature an assortment of smoothie bowls in bright and contrasting colors. A variety of toppings, like organic granola, banana slices (of course), pineapple, strawberries, honey, peanut butter, hazelnut sauce and chia seeds, will be available accessories to your colorful smoothie. Benson plans on offering two sizes of her smoothie bowls and will give diners the option of either a preset concoction (there will be three) or a build-yourown smoothie bowl.
“What’s cool is that all of the bases are gonna have a super food in them,” said Jessica Benson, creator of The Wild Banana. “So every base will have banana, and then the acai one will obviously have acai, so it will be dark purple. I have a dragon fruit one that will be bright pink. It’s really pretty.”
The third and final smoothie bowl base is blue banana and flavored with blue algae. Benson will not be using any artificial coloring to enhance her smoothie bowls, as she feels that it will only diminish the quality of her sweet treats.
“We’re in a world where there is artificial coloring in our meat, in our fish — they even color salmon red,” said Benson. “Everyone wants things to look appealing, but I’m just going to prove that it can be done in a natural way, without artificial coloring.”
Aside from offering smoothie bowls free of artificial coloring, Benson also hopes to make her creations at least 70 to 80 percent organic and completely vegan. And, as far as utensils go, Benson also plans to lend some all-natural love to the environment by avoiding plastic utensils and substituting it with more sustainable options.
“I’m really big on saving the planet, or at least trying to, and I hate plastic,” said Benson. “With my business, I could not bear to use plastic, and it is a hard decision because you’re basically going to pay 10 times the price, but I just said that I don’t care. I feel like I’m doing the right thing and it’s worth it. We have bought the serving containers; we’re gonna have two sizes. They’re made with corn-based resin so if an animal eats it, they’ll be fine.”
Though Benson doesn’t expect to be in business until early April, she’s already working hard to put the finishing touches on her food truck (or trailer, we should say) — and she’s doing most of it on her own. From the plumbing to the flooring, Benson has basically created her own food truck, along with the occasional help from a family member.
When Benson is ready to present her passion project to the world, she’ll be able to get by with a little help from her friends — namely, her best friend, Nicole Cornett of Billie Gold Bubble Tea. As a team, the pair is likely to dominate the food truck scene in Dayton.
For Benson, this food truck is so much more than a means to a better life. It’s a way to show her fellow Daytonians that consuming a healthier, more nutrient-rich diet is completely attainable — and delicious.
“Obviously, everyone who owns a business wants to make money, but that’s not my number one goal,” said Benson. “I’m more passionate about giving people healthy options. I have so many friends or people that I know that always say ‘Eating healthy is so expensive’ and ‘It doesn’t taste good’ or ‘It isn’t fun,’ and I want to prove that healthy eating can be fun and taste good.”
For more information about The Wild Banana, visit the food truck’s Facebook page or Instagram account.