Editor’s Note: One of my favorite features from the original VendrTV blog was the Cartivores section. Every week, we chatted with new street food-loving friends about their most memorable mobile food experiences. We’re not ones to let a good thing go here, so Cartivores is back with celebrities added to the mix! This week we chat with Mayor Sam Adams of Portland, Oregon about the small city with the big street food scene. What other food celebs would you like to see here? Let me know at amy@vendr.tv.

VendrTV: Why is the Portland street food scene so expansive?

Mayor Sam Adams: The Portland street food scene is big due to a couple of factors. For one, we’re a city comprised of very small businesses. 50% of all Portland business owners have four or fewer employees. Also, the DIY culture in PDX has long been a tradition. We’ve had to be more scrappy and make our way with what we had. And we’re comfortable doing things our own way. You also have to consider that 50% of Portlanders are not born in Portland so there are lots of folks coming in with their own ideas for businesses.

V: In what ways has the PDX government embraced the city’s street food industry?

SA: The food industry is brutal. People open and close right back up. But we contribute by setting the bar of entry into the street food industry low. The regulations in other cities make it difficult for street food vendors to start. We [in PDX] try to stay the heck out of the way. Food safety is the most important to us, but otherwise we try to keep start-up costs low for the vendor and the licensing process under ten days. We want to do everything we can to help grow and foster our street food scene. As you know, we’re very focused on buying local and being local. So while we don’t subsidize these start-ups, we try to keep it free of red tape while keeping it safe.

Lunch from The Whole Bowl

V: Why is being artisan so important to this city?

SA: Portlanders are intent on having a good quality of life, which is reflected in our focus on quality over quantity. We’re willing to have protections for the environment that other cities don’t or won’t have. Local produce is consumed here at a much higher rate than other places. When it’s locally-grown or produced, we love that.

V: Can you tell me about the history of Portland’s street food scene? And how it’s developed?

SA: Our street food scene really emerged in the last five to ten years. We had early adopters who owned multiple carts and decided to cluster close to each other to form “a place”. Then there was great growth in private parking lot owners when they realized they can rent out space to food vendors. Also, restaurants and other businesses have benefited from being close to food carts because as more people walk to-and-from the street vendors, the brick-and-mortar places benefited from foot traffic.

Only 14% of Portland is not US born. It is one of the whitest cities in America and this has impacted the style of food carts, which have been able to survive and compete by filling the void in ethnic cuisine left by brick-and-mortar businesses.

Links and Sides from Homegrown Smoker

V: Any favorite PDX street vendors you’d recommend?

SA: There are many! Whole Bowl, FlavourSpot, and I love the vegan barbecue at Homegrown Smoker. Recently, I tried the Frying Scotsman, which was wonderful. Also, Portland Soup Company, because it reminds me of that Seinfeld episode.

V: If you could open your own street cart, what would that cart be?

SA: I would be serving casserole, comfort food, or food you wish your grandma made. I grew up in a household where there was lots of home-cooking. And you gotta have dessert…all sorts of bread pudding.

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