Sustainability Tag

It’s a taste of Italy in Strathcona, and Italians agree. 

Focacciaza on East Cordova and Raymur. You cannot miss the red awning and bicycle-cart set up, out of which Joe dispenses what is the best focaccia I’ve ever tasted. This is confirmed by a neighbouring business owner who walks by during our conversation and raves about how amazing Joe’s food is. Did I mention that this neighbour is Italian? That’s all the validation he needs. Focacciaza Joe (as everyone calls him) is passionate, dedicated and easy going. Leading the sustainable food-business movement, he forages for wild mushrooms and grows his own herbs, all of which go on the focaccia he sells from a zero-emission cart. Our conversation is a peek into his heart for small businesses and the Strathcona community. 

What’s the story behind Focacciaza?

So before I became a cook, I was backpacking through Italy with a friend, and a travel agent advised us on where tourists don’t go. They sent us to La Spezia which is in Genoa, where the most famous focaccia variety comes from. It’s a thick, soft, fluffy type. We went into this small village and couldn’t find anywhere to stay, so we slept in a field. The next morning, we were really hungry and we walked by a little focacceria and we could smell the food. So we got them to sell us a fresh piece of focaccia for like two euros and it was the most amazing focaccia. So that’s what mine is modelled after. I have this memory of that focaccia and I designed my recipe by myself, so it’s not a recipe that I got anywhere. Instead it’s made to suit my timing, my baking and my surroundings, but the goal is basically to have that texture and flavour. Italians from that area that try my focaccia always validate it. They always say “It’s just like home”.

What’s the best part of running a business in Strathcona? Any high points?

Absolutely! I get to make unique food with ingredients that I grow and forage in the wild, which is rewarding in itself. I have a community garden plot in the Strathcona Cottonwood Garden and those herbs go into my focaccia. People love all those things. Everybody in the community likes me. Every car that drives by waves. There are many upsides to running your own business. There are many challenges but it’s rewarding work, right? I do feel like I’m a part of the community. That’s why Strathcona is really good. It has a very community vibe. There are a lot of artists that live here that have a little bit of time to go seek local things. Also the zoning, and the fact that Downtown and Commercial Drive are a quick drive away are some of the upsides.

What is the most pressing issue you face being in this area?

I’d say, visibility. This building used to open up on Powell street and was quite visible to the public, but more and more it’s being blocked off. Now with the overpass, you can’t even see us. This Fall, Transport Canada is going to close off a section of Raymur street here because of rail safety. So there will be no vehicle or foot traffic and that closes me off even more. Even if you want to buy something from me, it becomes harder and harder. A while ago, I had an interview on CBC radio, and it did drive business and brought some people from different places, but every one of them said Focacciaza was almost impossible to find because they couldn’t turn off of Clark, Hastings or Powell street to get here, and when they finally got onto Cordova, they were stuck behind the train. 

What are your thoughts on the zoning policies in this neighbourhood?

The zoning is really good. It’s mixed zoning in this area. This building is old-fashioned, an old vinegar factory that’s now been zoned for mixed-usage and it’s perfect. You can do a lot of different things here and that’s very beneficial not just to someone looking for a home for their business. There’s also a diverse range of small businesses around me and they’re willing to support food makers like me. Really if I could live here, I would. 

What’s your vision for the future of Focacciaza?

I have a lot of dreams for my business, like teaching people, setting up workshops, and hosting events. I also play in a band so I can make the music for these settings. I try to be a part of the cultural community, which could always use help in Vancouver and the zoning here might allow for that kind of mixed-use space to happen one day. I see Focacciaza being a really cool community place where people can not only purchase local things, but enjoy local culture and music, all in one place. 

What are some of the challenges you face running a street-food business? 

I’m a street food vendor and I find it impossible to sell on the streets of Vancouver. I’m not allowed to be downtown or on the beach. I’m not allowed to be in any Vancouver park. I can’t be on the entire seawall or Trout Lake. Just imagine anywhere that you could see this bike. It has to do with my licence and the City of Vancouver, and this is why I just stay here. So it basically treats me like a food truck and that’s that. I need to figure out how people can get my product, but approaching a grocery store would mean packaging, labelling, and barcode scanning. And it’s hard for these small businesses because you need a designer. These things are not cheap. At the end of the day I am surviving as a business on this corner and making all kinds of things besides the focaccia like sandwiches, soups, biscotti, and popsicles during the summer. Catering gigs really help me out because there’s only so many people that live and work around here. Once it’s 5pm, there’s not a soul walking down the streets. One solution for me would be to find an investor and move into a brick-and-mortar or completely change to catering but that needs investment as well. 

Finally, what kind of support would you want to see from the SBIA?

It would be some kind of program helping businesses with their marketing, which is what you’re doing right now. Because small businesses exist but can’t be found. People are bombarded by so much marketing these days that it’s really hard for any small business to put those dollars into noticeable marketing. The BIA could also host local Strathcona festivals with all the small businesses and market it. That’s how local people get to know their local businesses a little better. Overall, any opportunities to actually sell my product would be great. 

Visit Joe at 1007 E Cordova street Tuesday to Friday from 11-5pm.

Follow his Instagram to see what’s on the menu and check out the website to book Focacciaza for your next event.

We all have a role to play.

We all understand the importance of having a clean and safe community with proper resources and programming to help keep our neighborhoods accessible, beautiful, and thriving. Taking action to tackle our climate emergency and lower our carbon footprint is an essential part of keeping our communities thriving. From an organizational level to an individual level, we all have a role to play in creating a sustainable and flourishing planet. 

At the Strathcona BIA, Environmental Sustainability is one of our six core values. It’s a lens that informs our programming and placemaking work, including things like community waste management, transportation advocacy, or implementing granting programs for our members that promote sustainable choices. As individuals, adapting small things in our daily routines like composting or opting to ride our bikes to work instead of driving are the little things that add up to a whole lot if everyone gets involved.

Doing our part to change some of our less eco-friendly habits not only contributes to a more sustainable planet but can actually help to restore our Mother Earth. Yes, we said restore the earth! 

It seems like a huge job, we know, but with 7.5 billion people sharing this planet and all making the extra effort, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched when you really think about it. Combining actions of individuals and bigger systems changes, together we can #RestoreOurEarth to build a better future.

For Earth Week we want to highlight some of the ways Strathcona contributes to a sustainable community. We also want to offer resources on what more you can do to help restore the earth.

For more information on how you can help be apart of the change visit earthday.org

Five Ways Strathcona Contributes to a More Sustainable Community

Reducing your carbon footprint can be as simple as discarding your old items the right way. Strathcona is home to North Star Metal Recycling, a company that will buy, sell and recycle scrap metal and other materials like batteries, wire, and cables. Located just off Powell Street near Clark Drive, North Star Recycling will take unwanted items ranging from appliances and household scraps to vehicle rims, motors and industrial metal. They will then repurpose the materials saving them from a potential lifetime in a landfill. 

Did you know that producing steel from recycled materials compared with virgin material saves 75% of the energy needed? We also learned from North Star that the 36 billion aluminum cans landfilled last year had a scrap value of more than $600 million. Someday, we’ll be mining our landfills for the resources we’ve buried. 

For more information (and cool facts about metal recycling!) visit: northstarmetalrecycling.com

What does a custom awards producer have to do with sustainable energy? In our neighbourhood, a lot. 

Eclipse Awards is a business located in the heart of Strathcona that makes eco-friendly awards, plaques and trophies that help people feel recognized, appreciated, and celebrated. They have also dedicated their East Vancouver rooftop to solar panels that power their business. If that’s not incredible enough, all of the excess energy the business doesn’t use goes into the city’s power grid. 

For more information visit: eclipseawards.com

Owner, Toby Barazzuol, has not only established sustainability initiatives at his business, but helped pioneer sustainability programs within the Strathcona community as well. During his time as Strathcona BIA Board Chair, Toby helped establish a sustainability committee that looked at ways we could help businesses reduce their energy consumption, divert waste from landfill, and implement greening initiatives in the community. One of our long-standing programs that came from this work is Recycle in Strathcona, a community waste management program. 

Recycle In Strathcona is a comprehensive and cost-effective recycling service provided to SBIA members by Recycling Alternative and Shift Delivery. The program offers waste management services at exclusive rates for Strathcona BIA members. If your workplace only produces a small amount of waste, a zero-emissions trike pick-up option through Shift Delivery is available.

Other benefits include education and support for your staff, no long-term contracts, and flexible bin sizes and collection frequency to fit your needs. The more members that join this community recycling program, the more optimized the pick-up routes can be, lowering carbon emissions and the amount of truck traffic we see in our lanes and streets.

For more information visit: strathconabia.com/member-programs/recycle-in-strathcona/

The Strathcona Community Garden is located near Hawks and Prior Street and is a volunteer-managed space. The garden sits on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations and is a space that is operated by the Strathcona Community Gardeners Society, a non-profit and leader in community-run ecological stewardship. The garden provides the neighbourhood’s residents an opportunity to grow their own plots of food, herbs, and flowers locally. The space provides rare inner-city habitat for wildlife. With over 200 individual plots, a greenhouse, a bee shed for bee-keeping, orchard, and wildlife habitat area, the space is a green oasis in the city.

For more information visit: strathconagardens.ca 

We know that a big part of tackling the climate crisis is changing how we move around the city and our communities. Strathcona is an eclectic mix of industrial spaces, hidden retail gems, and community spaces in the heart of East Vancouver, so it’s no wonder that a focus on accessibility is kind of our thing.

Walking, biking, or taking transit, are all great modes of choice for getting around in our well-connected community. Nine bus routes run through Strathcona, and it is considered a “walker’s paradise” with a walking score of 95. Strathcona also has some incredible bike paths throughout the district that will smoothly lead you to the rest of the city.

Resources and Opportunities

Check out some of these links to learn more about how you can make an impact and contribute to a sustainable community.

For Citizens

• Get inspired around all the ways you can take action this week and beyond at earthday.org. There will be plenty of live-streamed virtual events with a focus on this year’s Earth Day theme: Restore the Earth.
• On a local level, check out the City of Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, and learn how to get involved.

For Small Businesses

• Do you strive to create a positive impact in the world through business? Learn about how to measure your impact using impact assessment tools at an upcoming free B Corp 101 workshop by the BDC and Vancouver Economic Commission. Workshops dates are May 13 or June 10.

For Innovators

• Vancouver Economic Commission recently launched Project Greenlight, a program that connects enterprises with big challenges to innovators ready to build and pilot sustainable solutions. Learn more here.

For Industry Associations

• The Climate Change How-to Guide for Industry and Professional Associations is a great in-depth resource by the BC Council for International Cooperation with best practices for addressing climate change at the industry level.