GREATER LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)-To finish News 18 this Morning's special summer segment, Food Truck Fridays, we met with a local woman who runs a podcast all about food trucks.

Ariel Smith has talked to many food truck owners all over the world for her podcast, the food truck scholar. Smith is a PhD student at Purdue University.

She sat down with us to talk trends in food trucks locally and nationwide. Rest assured, she believes food trucks will be going strong for the next several years.

However, she predicts a lot of the trucks will eventually transition to a brick and mortar. That's because she said there's always something new on the horizon.

Ariel also mentioned that unfortunately, some people look down at the food industry. She talked about how people are telling students to go to college otherwise they'll end up with a job flipping burgers.

She argued, what's wrong with flipping burgers?

"Your doctor's are great. Your lawyer's are great, but who gets to feed them? Who keeps your doctors going when they're tired and they're hungry? It's your chef," Smith said. "So it's not a greater than, it's not a less than; we are all in this together."

Smith said the best stories are told at the dinner table. Now, she said the best stories can also be told at the curbside. 

Check out her podcast here