Chantal Zimmer, also known as the Purple Pastry Chef, strives to run her Calgary-based pastry food truck as environmentally-sustainable as possible. Chantal achieved LEAF certification by growing her own organic fruit, herbs and edible flowers, striving to reduce waste and provide environmentally-preferrable take out items, composting, using low flow water fixtures, and more. Chantal talks to us about what led her down this path, and where she wants to go.
Describe your journey to sustainability…
It all started with my first job, in the food service industry.. as a dishwasher. The amount of food that I saw going to waste was crazy to me. I was very young and didn’t have alot of money, and food was expensive. I also knew that there are alot of Canadians that go hungry every year. As I moved up in the restaurant industry, I continued to see waste, and practices that were not very environmentally friendly. There was not one place that I worked that even recycled, which is an easy first step to sustainability. I became angry after a while, and vowed that when I was to open my own business, I would do whatever I could to achieve sustainability.
What drew you to LEAF?
I knew that LEAF Canada was a great organization that would be able to help me out and give me some tips… and that they have! I also really wanted to reach out to a certain type of clientele, that would have the same values as I do. I wanted to extend my clientele base, so that I could work more with organic products and make vegan and specialty pastries. Sustainability is extremely important in the food industry as we have a large impact on the environment and we also use a mass amount of energy.
What sustainability goals would you like to reach in the future?
I am working to expand my organic garden and find some more great local suppliers. I would love for more of our pastries to be made with local organic ingredients.
Visit the Purple Pastry Chef today!
