Jason Sorensen Above: Eric Selman works in his recently purchased food truck Thursday, on Tilden Street in Fairmont. Selman’s truck, The Clucked Farmer, is set to open on Saturday.

FAIRMONT – Food trucks are a great summer treat for many. They offer unique and delicious meals, let you enjoy your community, and a purchase means one more meal you don’t have to cook. Add in the fact that you’re helping a small business owner, and you’ve got a recipe for success.

Now there’s a new truck in town, at a familiar location. Eric Selman recently bought and fixed up the Bab’s BBQ truck located at the intersection of State Street and Tilden Street in Fairmont.

Now known as The Clucked Farmer, Selman is set to open on Saturday, offering grilled wings, chili, brats, and dogs, along with occasional special dishes such as crab boils, butternut soup, fried chicken, loaded chili spuds, potato ham soup, and french dip sandwiches.

Selman shares his background and how The Clucked Farmer came to be.

“I was born and raised in South Carolina and was always around whole-pig barbecuing and barbecuing, in general, was just something that was always done,” he said. “I’ve been in Minnesota for 12 years with my wife and three kids and I always looked for an opportunity to do this.”

Selman himself is a veteran, medically retired from the military and states that between running his Minnesota farm and his southern heritage, he was inspired to provide something new to the area.

“There’s southern food food trucks, but this isn’t necessarily southern food. I’m all over the board, bringing a different style that you usually don’t see in Minnesota.

“For me, it’s all about a combination of flavors, to where something may be spicy but it’s smokey too.”

Another aspect important to Selman is that his ingredients are fresh and local.

All the product I use is fresh product, so we’re locally sourced. All my meat comes from a local butcher shop, so if I can’t raise it on my own farm and produce it, then I’m still sourcing it locally.

“As far as produce, I have a greenhouse so we grow our stuff there, and all the rest essentially comes from farmers markets.”

Selman shares that is important to him because he does not want to freeze his food.

“It doesn’t matter what restaurant you go to, if you get a chicken wing or chicken, 90 percent of the time it’s frozen. That definitely matters when it comes to food.

So for me it’s important to have quality fresh ingredients at a reasonable price, but at the same time have that new food experience. So where you might be eating a cheddar cheese brat, that cheddar cheese brat was made two days ago and never frozen, it’s 100 percent fresh.”

Another source of pride for Selman is his chili.

“Southern-style chili, for me, is that we don’t make chili like most people make chili. We grind brisket, and that’s our base. Brisket, bacon, and ground pork.

“There’s no beans, that’s a Midwest thing. There’s no beans in chili in South Carolina. So that’s my thing, it’s complex flavors in simple meals.

“I think the little things matter,” he said. “I’m a small mobile unit, but I feel that if I’m bringing fresh products and can source them myself being this small, then there’s no reason why others can’t make their food better too.

“I’m not here to take anybody’s business, I’m not doing brisket because I know there’s other people in the community that do stuff like that. The goal isn’t just to make money, if it was I wouldn’t locally source. I want to be a part of the community, not just in the community.”

Those interested can check out Selman’s Facebook page by searching for The Clucked Farmer. The truck will be open on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday every other week. Selman shares that hours of operation are still up in the air, but general operation hours will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. on weekdays, with longer hours on Saturday.