Mobile Cuisine Magazine is proud to announce our first book coverage/review for a book written specifically about the mobile food industry. Cartopia: Portland Food Cart Revolution by Kelly Rodgers and Kelley Roy is now available for those interested in the fantastic and growing world of Portland food carts.

These authors did not settle on creating a book to be used strictly as a cart location guide, but rather invested their time and energy into providing the whole story on the Portland Food Cart scene and why it is still growing and as popular as ever. The book documents, through stories and photography (photos by Andrew Burdick), the perfect storm of Portland’s independent culture, artisan economy, and foodie scene that created the street food revolution.

In an interview from Portland Monthy, Rodgers stated, “Cartopia is a book for those who are curious to know why the food cart phenomenon happened in Portland. It is a discovery of the underlying factors that created it, including the city’s regulations, its independent nature, its food culture, and its history of civic spirit. It is also a celebration of the actual vendors, the urbanism, and the food.”

If you are in the Portland area, or someone outside of the area interested in finding out how this industry has helped to add to a regions economic growth in a recessionary period, or even just a passionate foodie who wants to know about this bourgeoning mobile food industry, this 166 page book is for you.

About the Authors


KELLY RODGERS is the principal of Confluence Planning. Since moving to Portland in 1995, Kelly has worked in a variety of areas to support the development of a sustainable city, including neighborhood planning, green infrastructure, community design, renewable energy, and sustainable transportation. In other words, she has been working to create cities where people know their neighbors, where resources are used efficiently, where people don’t have to get in the car to meet their basic needs, and where it’s possible to work collaboratively on creative energy, food, and housing solutions. Kelly’s relationship with food carts began simply as a cartivore, but her interest was piqued further by their rapid growth and their increasingly elaborate street presence.  She has grown to appreciate food carts not only for their architectural personality and contribution to street life, but also for their role in the artisan economy.

KELLEY ROY curates DEPARTMENT, a collaborative art and design space in the heart of Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District, and provides business and marketing consulting services for Portland’s homegrown creative industries through her firm Sassafras Consulting. She thoroughly enjoys working with creative Portlanders who want to make a living doing what they love, and whole-heartedly believes that the term “starving artist” needs to be removed from our cultural mindset. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Kelley’s love affair with Portland began over 15 years ago and shows no sign of stopping. She even tried to leave twice, both times relocating to great cities (Austin and NYC), but Portland lured her back with its authentic, independent, and infinitely innovative approach to food, music, community, and life in general. Her hope is to curate a boxed set about Portland culture, with Cartopia being the first of many. For more information about Kelley see artdeptpdx.com and sassafraspdx.com.

You can find Cartopia in bookstores now, or follow the link on the side of this page to order online. Please note that they are publishing the book in limited numbers, so be sure to get yours now.

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