Mount Airy entrepreneur wants to organize food trucks and carts

Sizzling with fresh ideas about food trucks and carts, Andrew Gerson is a foodie on the move. A cofounder of Philadelphia's Mobile Food Association, which held its first meeting last month, Gerson has worked in restaurants, on gourmet food trucks, and with the healthy corner store initiative of the Food Trust, a Philadelphia organization that works with community groups to teach healthful snacking and expand access to fresh food.

A resident of Mount Airy, Gerson, 29, graduated from Skidmore College in 2005 and has a master's degree in sustainable agriculture from Italy's University of Gastronomic Sciences. He is chef and owner of Strada Pasta, his concept for taking handmade pasta to the streets. As a dedicated locavore, he uses only Pennsylvania grown and milled flour. His Strada truck will hit the road soon, he said. At the moment, his passion is creating a professional association to organize the estimated 300 food trucks and 400 food carts in Philadelphia. In this edited conversation with staff writer Michael Matza, conducted at Gerson's Mount Airy commissary over a plate of glossy gnocchi, he talked about the association's next steps.

Question: Truckers are mavericks. Can they work together in an organization?

Gerson: We lack an infrastructure for food trucks. There are not enough commissaries [for food preparation]. I saw the need for an association to create a communal voice, [share] resources, grow, and support this sector.

Q: Are today's food trucks different from yesteryear's?

Gerson: Another reason for this association is to change the perception of the "roach coach." There is a new movement in the city. These are gourmet trucks. We haven't talked about it at the association [yet], but I am all for a grading system like they do in L.A. - A, B, and C trucks. A health department grade, based on cleanliness, refrigeration standards, etc.

Q: In a lot of neighborhoods vendors compete fiercely.

Gerson: We don't look at it as competition. We look at the greater growth of the industry. You see gas stations next to gas stations, and restaurants next to restaurants. We want to create attractions . . . alternative eating spaces throughout the city [as in] D.C., L.A., and Portland [Oregon, where vendors cluster in public spaces and abandoned lots]. Philadelphia has a ton of abandoned lots.

Q: The association is in its infancy. About 60 people have attended meetings. Have they identified priorities?

Gerson: We have identified five areas: legal [forming a 501(c)(6) business league that can lobby]; membership and communications; finance; government relations; events and marketing.

Q: How will it be funded?

Gerson: [Primarily] by membership dues of [perhaps] $50 a month.

Q: Historically, many vendors have been immigrants?

Gerson: That's right. I ran into so many language barriers [trying to organize]. We are working with the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians [a nonprofit immigrant services group] to translate how-to guides. We will do one in English, one in whatever Asian dialect seems the most prominent, and one in Spanish.

Q: Who are the new breed of vendors?

Gerson: There are guys coming out of finance. Guys coming out of office jobs, suit-and-tie, who got fed up, laid off, or hit that glass ceiling. It has always been an outlet for low-income and minorities. Now it is also . . . Wharton students graduating and starting taco trucks. It is a chance to be entrepreneurial . . . to bite off something you can chew [because truck overhead is generally more manageable than fixed-location overhead].

Q: How do restaurateurs feel about carts and trucks?

Gerson: We are creating consumer choice. We are not in direct competition. Their businesses chose to operate in fixed locations; we operate as mobile food vendors. I don't see it as a direct competition because their products have different price points.

Q: Are there advantages to having designated lots for vendors?

Gerson: With destination eating areas there can be amenities like heat lamps for outdoor tables, trash disposal, Porta-Potties, everything you would need to do it properly.

Q: When is the next general meeting of the association?

Gerson: Feb. 15, 6 p.m., at the Free Library of Philadelphia [1901 Vine St].

Q: Cupcake trucks are popular right now. Tacos and barbecue are staples. What is the next big thing?

Gerson: Social media has revolutionized the [reach] of food trucks. [Customers] follow us on Twitter. And we are out there saying, "We will be here today, at such-and-such a time." It is different. People follow us and plan out nights of going from one [truck] to another. It creates these destinations. It's an adventure. You go out to find them. They might be there. They might not be there. It's foraging. It's hunting the buffalo, in a way. There is a romance to it. It is a hipper, cooler, more interesting way of eating.