Jason Sheppard’s father did all the cooking when he was growing up.

Although Jason refers to him as “dad,” most knew him as former Beaufort County Sheriff Nelson Lee Sheppard.

Jason Sheppard, a Washington native, said the combination of growing up around his dad and some extended family on his mom’s side led him to pursue a career in food. Moving around to different restaurants in eastern North Carolina over the course of 17 years, Sheppard dreamed of having his own restaurant.

“I decided I wanted to come back home. I was missing my niece, my niece and my nephew, I was missing them growing up,” he said. “I’ve always had a passion for wanting to own my own establishment.”

About a month ago, Shep’s Farm to Truck was born in Greenville. The food truck made its first appearance in Washington last Wednesday in the parking lot at Linda’s Flowers and Gifts.

“When you have a brick and mortar restaurant, you’re stuck,” Sheppard said. “If I go to a bad location one day with my food truck, you know what, I can cross that spot off my list and say we’re going to find another place. With a brick and mortar restaurant, you don’t have that luxury.”

Sheppard said “farm to truck” shows his commitment to buy fresh and locally whenever possible. His truck isn’t even equipped with a freezer.

“I couldn’t really do farm to table because I don’t have any tables,” he laughed. “You want to support your local man, your fellow local businessman, your fellow farmers.”

Sheppard said he and his truck would be back in Washington this week, and in the near future, he wants to nail down a regular schedule.

“Just right now we’re going to get our legs up underneath us here because we don’t want to stretch ourselves too thin,” he said.

Every day he cooks acts as a reminder of the father who inspired his life’s work. And his friends and family couldn’t be happier to have him back in Washington.

For more information, or to see when the food truck is coming to the area, visit www.facebook.com/shepsfarmtotruck, or www.shepsfarmtotruck.com.