Healthy food for oil patch truck drivers isn't just pie-in-the-sky.
Wholefood not junk food Image: Wickerfurniture |
According to local media and medical specialists, heavy truck drivers in the US oil patch are now used to a diet largely comprising junk food and may well be addicted to it. But convenience stores and truck stops in region are wising up and offering healthy alternatives.
With no chance of parking a giant rig outside the town grocery store or salad bar, the only real option is the ubiquitous truck stops planted along the main highways.
In many cases, quantity or the need for speed drops healthy eating down the agenda.
However, two popular stops at major junctions of US Highway 2 in North Dakota, have decided that the only heavy loads should be in the trailer and not the cab and have started serving healthy, homemade food.
On the menu are homemade meatloaf or lasagna, served with fresh vegetables, while breakfast includes a fruit along with real egg omelettes and more vegetables.
And saving these truckers' bacon - when it comes to health at least - is also helping the bottom line for the businesses providing fresh food. One restaurant chain reported more than $150m in sales in 2012 and is now set to build a $10m fuel/convenience store in the area.