Meet Dannie Redondo of Little Farm Food Truck

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dannie Redondo.

Hi Dannie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I finished culinary school unsure of which path I would take after graduating. I mostly went because I had a strong desire to learn about food, where it comes from, and how to cook it. I never wanted to cook in a commercial kitchen. However, I did spend twenty years working in front of the house in bars/restaurants.

When my daughters were toddlers, they suffered from extreme food allergies which triggered asthma and eczema. Their allergist suggested I clean up their diets as much as possible. They could not have gluten, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, dairy, artificial colors, etc. The list goes on and on. Even with my degree in culinary arts, this was very difficult. Twenty years ago ready-made allergy-friendly foods were not as readily available as they are today. This meant that I had to make just about everything they ate from scratch.

Cooking allergy-friendly foods put me on a different kind of food path. Not only did I need to understand which foods to avoid, I learned a whole new list of foods they could enjoy. Foods I wasn’t used to cooking with such as special nonwheat flour blends and grains, alternative dairy products, and fruits and vegetables that I was not accustomed to eating or cooking with.

This new lifestyle pushed me directly to the source of good clean local food. which I spent a lot of time at my local farmers’ market. It was there that I developed an obsession with small family farms. Talking with the farmers, buying their local fruits and vegetables, honey, and eggs. This was intoxicating for me. Still is. The way that many chefs love the sound of a loud kitchen and the clanking of dishes. I love the many steps before that. The soil, bees, seeds, and plants are all a part of bringing calmness and balance to my daily life.

My husband and I bought an acre and a half of land in Goodyear with an old farmhouse on it. We bought chickens and planted a big vegetable garden. We call this place Goat Sneeze Farm. Shortly after that, we bought our food truck. I wanted to have the freedom of traveling around and still cooking food. When I was in the restaurant business, I grew tired of feeling stuck within the same four walls. I actually sat at work craving fresh air and sunlight.

The food truck allows me to have both.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. Starting a business is not easy.

The food trucking business is very expensive to start and maintain. We met our share of dishonest jokers that ripped us off. it seems every day we have to work through at least one obstacle or another. Thank goodness we’ve been in the business long enough to network with other food truckers if we need something fixed or have questions on something we don’t understand.

During Covid, my husband was still working his old job so that made it less stressful for me to earn. We made it through and eventually my business got really busy. It was a task hiring and keeping help. My husband and I decided it would be best if he left his job to come and work on the food truck full time with me.

He never looked back. This was the best thing that could have happened for me to grow. He is invaluable to me and my business. I couldn’t get half of what I get done without him. He is my rock!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Little Farm Food Truck is a woman-owned local business based out of Goodyear Arizona. We often try to incorporate as much local produce into our menu as possible bringing attention to the farm that grew it. We are blessed to live in Goodyear where we are surrounded by local agriculture.

We do not serve fancy or fussy food. We serve delicious farm-style food such as Southern fried chicken sandwiches and our signature Bacon Butter Burger. We serve breakfast such as our banana caramel french toast, lunch, and dinner depending on the day. We also make delicious fresh-squeezed lemonade in various flavors. We are currently expanding our business to include a dessert trailer which we lovingly call “Little Sister”.

The second half of building my business includes having a small-scale market farm. It is the reason we bought the land we are on and has been part of my plan all along. I am equally as passionate about growing food as I am cooking it. We have already grown a lot of food on our property but plan to make it a viable business over time.

This is super challenging because we often work 16 hour days on the food truck. A farm is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will be starting with 80 beds of high rotation crops that we plan to use on the food truck and sell at the farmer’s market. I’m not sure how I’m going to pull this one-off, but I don’t really have a choice. My passion keeps pushing me. I don’t even have a choice in the matter.

Of course, my small farm will be a place of community. I imagine a beautiful place for friends, neighbors, and colleagues to congregate and eat farm-to-table food that I grew.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Something I didn’t just learn but was quickly reminded of is that our food supply is not as stable as we would like to think it is.

I encourage everyone to have a small vegetable garden and a few chickens if they can. I cannot stress enough the importance and value of local family farms and the farmers themselves. Find them, support them, value them.

Contact Info:

• Email: Littlefarmfoodtruck@yahoo.com
• Instagram: @littlefarmfoodtruck
• Facebook: Little Farm Food Truck