Food Truck RFP

The City of Portland has put out an RFP for food trucks and carts that want to operate this summer in parks and other public spaces, according the Bangor Daily News and West End News.

The City of Portland has issued a Request for Proposals to seek qualified vendors to provide concession operations through the use of food trucks and push carts at seven locations throughout the city. The food truck locations include: Back Cove Trail, Congress Square Plaza, Deering Oaks Park parking lot, Western Promenade, and Kiwanis Pool parking lot. The push cart locations include: East End Beach, Lincoln Park, Kiwanis Pool parking lot, and Western Promenade.

Casco Bay Kelp Farming

The Business section in today’s Press Herald includes an update on Ocean Approved and their kelp farming operation in Casco Bay.

Dobbins said the potential market for the product is huge. Kelp is a $5 billion-a-year industry worldwide, and almost all of it is harvested and dried in Asia, where kelp farms are spread across entire bays. It is a staple of the Asian diet, a nutritious vegetable that doesn’t require any land, fresh water irrigation or fertilizer to produce.

Ocean Approved wants American consumers to think of kelp as a vegetable that can be served with a lot of mainstream dishes rather than just an ingredient in a sushi roll.