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growing consumer demand—and
see street food as a welcome addition
to urban culture.
In 2010, Vancouver initiated a pilot
program with 17 food trucks and is now
home to about 100 trucks and carts.
Montrealers enjoy treats from dozens
of trucks located at festivals and street
fairs. Calgary has about 40 trucks, and
even supplied two permanent parking
spots behind city hall. Halifax has joined
the club, with seven designated park-
for jobs—and a less expensive way to
launch a food business. For consum-
ers, food trucks offered a cheaper way
to eat on the go while still savouring
high-quality cuisine. Today’s food trucks
serve up gourmet food, often with an
ethnic twist. You can sample a lavender
cupcake on your morning coffee break
and then try Korean barbecue for lunch.
The phenomenon first took off in
the United States. Los Angeles, for
example, boasts more than 9,000 food
trucks and carts, and Portland, Oregon,
has some 600. Canada was slower
to catch on, mainly because of city
bylaws that either banned street food
or limited where and how trucks could
operate. But that has been changing,
as municipal governments respond to
AN BURGERS. Pulled
k tacos. Poutine. Lamb
abs. Belgian waffles.
gies. Gone are the days
“street food” meant
ot dogs and roasted
chestnuts, and “gourmet”
was the last word you’d apply to food
purchased from an open-air cart. Today,
Canada’s street food scene abounds in
fresh, local, diverse and, yes, gourmet
fare, and the trend is growing steadily.
Certainly, street food is nothing new.
A hundred years ago, food carts served
sandwiches and snacks to blue-collar
workers on their lunch break. In the
last decade, though, a new street food
craze has taken hold. Following the
recent recession, chefs were looking
EG
pork tacos. Poutine. Lamb
keb i
Pero
when
only hot dogs and roasted
chestnuts, and “gourmet”
o oo
