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New Disney Springs food truck has its roots in bringing healthy options to lower-income communities

Disney World Guests looking for new flavors at Disney Springs are in for a pleasant surprise, thanks to a new food truck offering.

local green orlando truck #2 | Pirates & Princesses
Credit: Pirates and Princesses

Disney Springs is known as the premier shopping, dining, and entertainment district at the Walt Disney World Resort. Many Guests who visit Disney World are sure to set aside at least one day to visit Disney Springs during their Disney vacations, and an important part of a Disney Springs day is Disney Springs food.

Disney Springs is home to a wide variety of restaurants and eateries that offer Guests a huge selection of unique food and drinks, including Morimoto Asia, Raglan Road Irish Pub, Wolfgang Puck Express, Chef Art Smith‘s Homecomin’, Wine Bar George, Planet Hollywood, Rainforest Cafe, Guy Fieri‘s Chicken Guy, STK Orlando, Frontera Cocina, The Edison, Enzo’s Hideaway, Bongos, and more.

Chef-Art-Smith-Homecomin
Credit: Disney

But many Guests opt for Disney Springs’ food truck offerings during their visit, and earlier this year, a brand-new food truck joined the ranks at Disney Springs.

Zak and Robyn Wallace opened Local Green Orlando, the first black-owned food truck at the Walt Disney World Resort, according to The Atlanta Voice. They are the owners of Local Green Atlanta, a casual eatery that offers vegetarian and pescatarian food options in Vine City, Georgia.

The couple also owns and operates Local Green Atlanta, a fast-casual restaurant that provides healthy vegetarian and pescatarian food options in Vine City.

zak and robyn wallace local green orlando
Credit: The Atlanta Voice/Madeline Thigpen

“We wanted to come down here to Orlando and make a footprint here at Disney, but really go into other communities that are comparable to a Vine City and be able to offer some of those same healthy options,” Robyn Wallace said.

According to the Local Green Atlanta website, the restaurant was “birthed out of the desire to provide wholesome food options to the residents in Atlanta’s Westside community.” The site further touts the restaurant’s “affordable and nutritious menu selections.” The Wallaces “hope to inspire change, advance palates, improve health habits and end food deserts in Atlanta’s Westside and beyond.”

ATLStrong Small Business Stories - Vine City Eatery Pivots with Business  Continuity Loan Fund Assistance
Credit: Invest Atlanta

Wallace explained that when she and her husband Zak first opened their location in Vine City, people who lived in the neighborhood weren’t interested in food options that were considered healthy. Before opening their restaurant in 2018, Zak started the Local Green food truck in an effort to bring healthier food options to people living in what the couple calls “Atlanta’s food deserts.”

“When we were in the throes of COVID, we were able to use our food truck to go administer food to the homeless community in Vine City,” Robyn Wallace said in an interview with The Atlanta Voice.

Home - Local Green Atlanta
Credit: Local Green Atlanta

Local Green offers a predominantly plant-based menu, with options that the couple says are not often found in lower-income communities, a situation which was made even worse by the challenges brought about by the pandemic.

The Wallaces and Local Green also created a partnership with US Foods in order to provide classes to people in lower-income communities so they can learn to make healthy snacks at home. They also provide boxes of food and supplies to families in those communities, so they have more options in healthy food available in their own homes.

Local Green, Disney's first Black-owned restaurant, prioritizes healthy  eats and community building - TheGrio
Credit: TheGrio

“We don’t believe in just giving food away because I don’t believe that that is really going to change how people do things if they’re not taught,” said Robyn Wallace. “We’re hoping that once we get this fully up and running, we can go into Orlando and do the same thing.”

Becky Burkett

Becky's from the Lone Star State and has been writing since she was 10 and encountered her first Disney Park when she was 11. It was love at first Main Street Electrical Parade. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue!), Disney Parks history and EPCOT. At Disney World, you'll find her croonin' with the birdies at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hangin' with Woody and the gang at Toy Story Land. If you can dream, you really can do it!

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