Vancouver is ready to unveil its expanded menu of food carts, but two local foodies have quit an expert panel, saying the city's selection criteria didn't suit their palates and that its focus on local, organic items could raise prices.
Nineteen additional mobile food vendors are scheduled to be announced on April 4, concluding a rigorous application program. The process, including its focus on nutritional, local, organic food, didn't sit well with food bloggers and panel members James Tabbert and Amy Eagan, who left their posts in protest.
"There was a whole bunch of other criteria … deciding the fate of this," Ms. Eagan said.
Ms. Eagan added she could not say much more about the process due to nondisclosure agreements with the city.
"We left a statement on our website and that's kind of all I really want to say about it," she said.
In a press release posted to vancouverstreeteats.ca, Mr. Tabbert wrote that the focus on organic and fair-trade menu choices could raise costs for producers as well as consumers. He also found fault with the emphasis on nutritional value.
"In every city with a flourishing food-cart scene, the free market prevails. Alongside the greasy spoons that make sustainability activists and nutritionists cringe, you can find the best in backyard sourced, organic and free-range options, in every incarnation imaginable," Mr. Tabbert wrote.
Menu and ingredient choice were primary considerations during the selection process. Together, nutritional value and use of organic, local and fair-trade ingredients amounted to 40 points out of a scale of 80. The remaining 40 points were judged on the basis of applicants' business plans and experience, menu diversity and innovation, and readiness to hit the streets if selected.
Some panel members are familiar names to people who follow the food scene in Vancouver, including chef Vikram Vij of Vij's and Rangoli, and chef Karen Barnaby of The Fish House in Stanley Park. The 14-person panel also included a nutritionist, two youth representatives and members of Vancouver's business community.
Sadhu Johnston, deputy city manager for Vancouver, said the panel is surprised by the departure of Mr. Tabbert and Ms. Eagan, which occurred late in the process.
"We never had any indication that they had any concerns at all," Mr. Johnston said. "I'm quite mystified still, because … from all the panelists that we heard from, they had a very positive experience, they appreciated the process and the rigour."
One thing panelists did not experience, however, was the food. Mr. Johnston said taste tests were not part of the selection criteria.