It may seem unbelievable now, but it was only in 2010 — years after they had become an integral part of dining culture in nearby U.S. cities like Seattle and Portland — that the City of Vancouver finally approved a pilot program that allowed local food trucks to serve anything other than hot dogs and chestnuts.
Today, there are several hundred food trucks across the Lower Mainland, and their presence at public and private events, as well as on busy urban streets, is so familiar that we may take them for granted.
But not only have food trucks played a huge part in diversifying the region’s culinary scene; occasionally, but they also help to support a worthy cause.
Case in point: CultivATE.
First launched in 2021, the CultivATE food truck — part of the registered charity ElevATE, which promotes food security, training and employment for people from marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds — has, since 2022, dedicated itself to exclusively employing women from Ukraine who fled the country after that year’s Russian invasions began.
“We decided that we wanted to hire only women from Ukraine who were fleeing the war and had come here with their families to resettle,” says Tabitha Geraghty, Executive Director of ElevATE Society. “We took them in with no experience, gave them training, [food-handling] certification, and gave them work for a living wage, benefits, and access to healthcare. We’ve successfully transitioned nine women through our program already.”
The CultivATE truck was in Delta in late July at an event for Vancity clients and employees.
“One of our biggest supporters, right from the outset,” says Geraghty.
Most recently, it was at the Richmond Sunflower Festival, and will be at the Richmond Maritime Festival from Aug. 24 to 25.
CultivATE frequently changes its menu offerings to “keeps things consistently interesting and keep people coming back,” says Geraghty. For a time, the truck was serving Ukrainian food based on the employees’ own recipes. Recently, the focus has been tacos and “amazing ‘not your mama's’ grilled cheeses.”
Geraghty, who describes her Ukrainian employees as “the hardest-working people I’ve ever met,” notes that the work experience provided by CultivATE leaves the women primed to find work elsewhere, should they decide to move on.
“I like to say, ‘If you work in the food-service industry, you will never go hungry.’ If they have to pick up their families again and move to Alberta because it's cheaper, they can easily get a job in a restaurant with a recommendation from ElevATE. It doesn't have to be their career, but it's always a foundation.”
CultivATE also operates as a catering service, which has been benefitting greatly from positive word of mouth.
“We catered a famous person's birthday party last night,” says Geraghty, a trace of disbelief still in her voice. “I don't want to mention his name, but I had no idea who it was until I arrived. He seemed very happy with the food.”
To find out more about CultivATE, visit cultivatefoodtruck.com.
