Just this past August, the Kalamazoo City Council made operating a food truck in the Michigan city's streets legal, and Coffee Rescue jumped into action. Now, in a converted ambulance, they ride the streets of Kalamazoo, MI, making sure that any and all citizens suffering from severe caffeine deprivation get the java jolt they need, stat.

Jay Woodhams, the owner of the food ambulance, told the local paper M Live that he got the idea for Coffee Rescue after moving back from Washington, D.C. to Kalamazoo, where his parents were looking for something to do in their retirement. It just so happened that an already-converted ambulance was on the market--Bill and Jamie Brock (Jay's dad and sister, both Coffee Rescue drivers) say that they've occasionally been mistaken for a real emergency vehicle, but it doesn't seem that any life-threatening mix-ups have happened yet.

There are plans for more Coffee Rescue vehicles in the works, and possible plans to expand into iced coffee and espresso drinks (right now it's just hot brewed coffee) if the demand's there. If he does get a chance to expand, though, Woodhams says he's stuck with the emergency theme: "I'm sort of obligated to function out of emergency vehicles," he told M Live. So the next truck will have to be an ambulance, too.

Original Article: BY SAM DEAN: October 9, 2012 | Bon Appetit