|
|
Nutrition
on wheels with the Pickle cycle
|
Toronto Star, April 30, 2009
By Susan Sampson
They call it the Pickle Cycle.
Toronto's newest bike courier won't be making the rounds with dull
paperwork. He'll be delivering nutrition in brown paper bags.
"It's literally a small delicatessen on wheels," chef Pedro Dos Santos
says ofVert Catering's unusual venture.
The "green" caterer's Bike Deli is an exercise in environmental
responsibility, with lunches packed in compostable containers and
delivered without burning fossil fuels.
"I'm offering healthy brown bag lunches at the $8 range," says Dos
Santos, whose storefront catering business is at 963 Dovercourt Rd., a
block south of Dupont St.
Vert is starting small, with one bike wheeling to selected downtown
buildings. The start date is set for May 11.
And they've hired "a crazy cyclist" to ride the custom-built Pickle
Cycle, Dos Santos adds with admiration. "He's pumped!"
The bike is a three-speed replica of a workhorse designed for deli
deliveries in the 1920s.
Purchased at Curbside Cycle on Bloor St. W., it was hand-built by
Pashley Cycles in England. At the front is a basket roomy enough for 60
lunches.
According to Vert co-owner Marilyn Simms, the bike has been whimsically
dubbed the Pickle Cycle because pickles are not only symbolic of delis,
they are green.
Lunch choices range from a vegan organic rapini and garlic sandwich, to
a chicken and roasted parsnip quiche with a side of couscous salad and
organic dressing.
As for the waste, Simms says it is biodegradable, with containers
derived from sugar or cornstarch and cutlery from potatoes. Such
Earth-friendly packaging costs 50 per cent more than plastic, she says,
but it's important to step up and set an example.
"We take the cost on ourselves," Simms says. "We think it's the right
thing to do."
Greenpeace was the first customer to sign up.
"It's important for us to eat local, organic and carbon-neutral foods,"
says organizer Laura Severinac, assistant to the campaign director at
Greenpeace.
The lunches will be delivered to Greenpeace's new, two-storey,
geothermally heated headquarters on Cecil St., near College St. and
Spadina Ave. Severinac estimates 35 to 40 people work there. Many bring
their own lunches, she says, while others end up having to run out and
pick something up.
They are a friendly bunch and look forward to visits from the Pickle
Cycle, she adds. "It's nice to be able to sit down together and eat."
|
|