A traveling food cart program to build community in Madison’s neighborhoods will expand into several new neighborhoods in July and August this year after a highly successful first season.

Madison Meet and Eat, a program that brings local food carts into vacant lots in targeted neighborhoods across the city, is planning to hold the weekly event in two additional Madison neighborhoods this summer, according to Alcohol and Food Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf.

This year, the program will host food carts in the Villager Mall on the south side and St. Paul Church on Sherman Avenue on the north side on Tuesdays in July and August, in addition to continuing events in the Meadowood Shopping Center on Thursdays, Woulf said.

The program started in the Meadowood neighborhood on the southwest side of the city last summer and lasted for eight weeks, according to Katie Crawley, spokesperson for the Mayor Paul Soglin. City officials opted to expand the program because of its success and the positive feedback from the community, she said.

After talking to people that showed up for the event, Woulf said they showed significant interest in continuing the program. He added other neighborhoods reached out to city officials and requested their own Meet and Eat programs.

Soglin has also expressed his support for the food cart program and wants to see it brought to more residents, Crawley said.

“[Soglin] supports the program because it’s a great opportunity to get people out,” Crawley said. “It’s an age old thing: bring food, people will come.”

Meet and Eat attracted 300 to 400 people on the nights it was held, Crawley said. The city encouraged such a large amount of people to attend through vouchers for discounted food from the carts for residents, she said. She said these vouchers were distributed to kids and families that might not have been able to afford the food at the event otherwise, making the event accessible to them.

Additionally, the city required participating food carts to offer at least one item on their menu at $3 or less, Crawley said.

She added the city will continue these incentives this summer in an effort to continue to attract diverse crowds.

Woulf explained the purpose of the program is to promote community development, particularly in diverse neighborhoods. The city uses the food cart program to combat various issues in the neighborhoods by getting neighbors out talking to other neighbors, he said.

Crawley said the event builds a sense of community.

“People can walk over and visit with neighbors,” Crawley said. “There are a limited number of events like that.”

The program is also beneficial for vendors because they are operating outside normal hours, Woulf said. This gives them access to revenue that did not exist previously, he added.

“With so many food carts in the city, the demand is there,” Woulf said.

Woulf said he expects the program will continue to be successful and envisions the city will add one or two more Meet and Eat sites in the next few years.

He added the city hopes to incorporate different types of vendors, such as those that attend farmer’s markets, into the event in the future as well.