Local food truck owner fighting misinformation about Haitian immigrants through cuisine

    SALT LAKE CITY (KSTU) -- Roody Salvator is the owner of Makaya Caters, a food truck serving a "Taste of Haiti." Immigrating to the U.S. in 2004, he’s one of the only chefs in Utah serving food from his home country.

“Typically, Haitians, unfortunately, [are] not known for the cuisine, because we've had so many bad things,” he said. “We've had natural disasters, we have poverty, we have political unrest, we have gang violence, and all of that sucked the oxygen out of the beautiful things we have in Haiti, and to me, the cuisine is one of the most beautiful things.”

Donald Trump’s words at last week’s presidential debate, targeting Haitian immigrants in Ohio, set Salvator back in a way he never could’ve imagined, he said.

“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in,” Trump said. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating pets of the people that live there.”

At the Downtown Farmers Market on Saturdays, Salvator usually makes more than $1,000; this weekend, he made around $350, he said.

“It was unbelievable because somebody literally came in and said, ‘Cat or dog?’” Salvator said.

City officials in Springfield, Ohio say there are no credible reports about Trump’s claims. The chef doesn’t know how to combat the rumor.

“When you have a plate, you get almost all the flavors,” said Salvator. “You'll get your sweet, salty, spicy, tangy, umami, and the marriage of it in the culture is amazing.”

He’s worried these words could destroy the business he’s spent the last 10 years building.

“If this continues like that, I don't know what's going to happen to my business.”

Salvator parks the Makaya Caters truck in Rose Park off 1000 North on Victoria Way every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. Most Saturdays, he’s at the farmers market at Pioneer Park all day; on Saturday the 21st, he will be at the Afro Fest at Library Square.