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Small Changes Lead to Big Impacts- The Case for Reducing Meat Consumption

Photo credit: Aviv

This is a guest post by Katie Cantrell of Green Monday

“When we think about threats to the environment, we tend to picture cars and smokestacks, not dinner. But the truth is, our need for food poses one of the biggest dangers to the planet.” – National Geographic

It’s hard to believe that Old McDonald could pose as big a threat as Exxon-Mobile, but the food system is one of the leading drivers of climate change and other environmental devastation. 

The statistics are staggering:

  • Switching from a hamburger to a veggie burger just once saves as much water as not showering for an entire month.
  • The top 5 meat and dairy producers combined emit more GHG than Exxon Mobile, Shell, or BP
  • If cows had their own country, they would be the third largest emitter of GHG behind China and the US.

These facts are shocking, but they actually paint a positive picture. While we have little control over national energy infrastructure or cap and trade legislation, we do have direct control over what we put on our plates. Food is one of the most powerful and direct ways that we can help stop the environmental catastrophes currently unfolding. (more…)


The Benefits of Delivery by Bike

Portland Pedal Power is founded on the belief that bikes are a sustainable, efficient and effective way to connect local businesses. With 10 years of experience under our belts, we decided to take a look at the proof points for our founding principles. 

Bikes are sustainable:

This one is pretty easy to prove. Cars emit carbon and bikes do not. But the real impact is when more and more businesses choose to have their food delivered by bike instead of by car. In 2018, Portland Pedal Power riders pedaled nearly 29,000 miles or the equivalent of 10 bike trips from Portland to New York City. This effectively saved nearly 29 tons of carbon from being emitted enough to power five homes or six-passenger vehicles for an entire year. 

We’re on track to ride even more miles in 2019 and are excited to see how much we can offset this year!

Bikes are effective:

Reducing the carbon impact is valued by our customers but they also need their food to be delivered hot, fresh and on time. We’re very committed to delivering on this promise. And we succeed. In 2019, Portland Pedal Power has a 97% on-time delivery rate. We consider an order on time when it arrives to our customer in the “delivery window” of 15 minutes before to 5 minutes after the scheduled delivery time. 

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The 2019 Bike More Challenge is almost Here!

May is just around the corner and we here at Portland Pedal Power couldn’t be more excited! May’s one of our favorite months of the year.  Not only do some of the more interesting food events like BBQ Month and National Eat What You Want Day happen this month. Also, it’s National Bike Month! That means that the Bike More Challenge is about to begin, brought to us by our friends at the Street Trust.

THE BIKE MORE CHALLENGE

The Bike More Challenge has been around since 1995 and is celebrating its 24th year. They’ve been working to encourage people to get out of their cars and sitting on bicycles. Most of us here at PPP commute by bike and we can say that it’s certainly invigorating, though we aren’t sad to see winter go away. There are numerous statistics from all over the world stating the benefits of biking, from it’s lowered impact on the environment and positive health aspects. We’re convinced that biking also makes people more interesting and attractive but the results of those studies are yet to be published.

The Bike More Challenge is a friendly competition with the base goal of getting your friends, family, and colleagues to learn, enjoy, and experience the positive aspects of riding a bike. We’re pretty serious about the competition. We’ve won twice in the past. We want to win again, but we want it to be a challenge because that means more people are out there on bicycles out there!

PARTNERS

Since it is a competition, there are prizes that will be awarded to various participants throughout the state. Some of the partners providing prizes include Laughing Planet Cafe, Showers Pass, Nossa Famiglia, Moberi, Breadwinner Cafe, and more! Get rewarded for logging your rides and encouraging others to ride. Just in the state of Oregon alone, more than 1,400 organizations and 30,000 people (including 7,500+ new riders) have ridden more than 14 million miles during 1.8 million rides and saving over 5.2 million lbs of CO2.

Registration is free, so join a team at work, log all of your rides over the course of the month. This is a great way to participate in National Bike Month. It’s especially great during National Bike to Work Week (May 13-19) and on National Bike to Work Day (May 17). Join up and be a part of the community and growing movement for healthy, thriving communities.

Here at PPP, we’ve got a larger team than last year, and we’re prepared to make sure we log every single mile! We’re ready to win in our size category and encourage people to join the movement!

Maybe you’ll be inspired to join us? Click here to register for the ride and let us know in the comments below if we should keep an eye out for you!


Fuel In The Tank To Get You Where You Need To Go

By: Daniel Atlas from his blog RYDOZE

Cycling is a seriously fun sport that can call for some serious fueling.  bike produce

While proper nourishment is essential for any successful athlete, cyclists especially require high amounts of energy to power their bodies through long rides. Fueling and refueling with the correct nutrition will help you bike harder, faster, stronger, and further!

How Much Fuel Will You Need?

How much fuel your body needs will differ depending on a few factors such as the length or difficulty of the ride.

Produce

As A General Rule, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30-60 grams of protein per hour of exercise. The needs and limitations of our bodies can fluctuate on a day-to-day basis.

Some Days, our bodies have seemingly boundless energy whereas, on other days, it’s apparent that they require more rest.  It’s always important to check in with the needs of your body before a ride.

Ultimately, everyone’s bodies work differently and some fuel sources will work better for some people than others. Some athletes prefer to train on a more of an empty stomach, while some prefer to have a little more fuel in the gut.

Experimenting with your fueling routine can help you discover what works best for you.  

But, make sure to keep your routine consistent before/on a long ride or race day!

While experimenting with your exercise and diet routines, you may find it helpful to keep a log of what you ate before/after a ride and how it made you feel.

It Starts Well Before Your Workout

Getting enough sleep is essential to any training plan–physical or mental. It is especially crucial before a long ride or race.

Eating too late at night can disrupt your digestion and the quality of your sleep so make sure to have dinner at an appropriate time.

Also, for ease of digestion, it is recommended to watch your fiber intake and to stay away from extremely spicy foods. (more…)


Local Holiday Gifting, Delivered by Bike with Cheer!

Say thank you to your team or clients with a curated a mix of local and show-stopping goodies perfect for an end of the day pick-me-up or pre-feast nibbles. We’re partnering with Green Zebra Grocery to offer gift boxes in two sizes, delivered sustainably by bicycle. Order by 12/21 to ensure a Christmas delivery.
Not only does our box include well known local super-star products such as Stumptown Evergreen Coffee and Jacobsen’s Sea Salt Caramels, but we are also featuring stand-out items from local producers you may not have heard of such as Oregon Growers Quince Fruit Pâté and Tom Bumble Chocolate Peanut Butter Candies. This box not only contains delectable treats, but it also represents growers, producers, and entrepreneurs that build the regional food economy.
Let us help you take care of your last minute list. Choose from either size below.

Small Gift Box $50*

    • Steven Smith Teamaker Sampler

 

    • Tom Bumble Chocolate Peanut Butter Candies

 

    • Stroopwafel Cookies

 

    • Olympia Provisions Soppresetta

 

    • 34 Degrees Sesame Crisps

 

    • Oregon Growers Quince Fruit Pâté

 

    • O’loves Olives

 

  • Chedz GF Premium Cheese Snacks

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10 Tips for Starting to Bike Commute

The re-emergence of sunny warm days is the perfect time to consider bike commuting. Cycle commuting is a healthy, economical, and environmentally friendly way to travel to and from work. If you’re not yet a regular bike commuter, don’t be deterred by the logistics. Bicycle commuting is easy to do and highly rewarding. Read along to find 10 helpful tips on making the transition from Doc Triathlon.


1. Set Goals

In certain circumstances, commuting to and from work every day is achievable, but what works for some doesn’t work for everyone. Factors, such as distance, weather, time, and convenience, can help you determine when and how often you should ride to and/or from work.

We recommend starting slow and working your way up to an achievable goal. This could mean carpooling to work with a coworker and taking a leisurely ride home or cycling both ways for a single day of the week.

2. Get the Essential Gear

Don’t be deterred by fancy, expensive gadgets or outerwear. To get started, all you need is a decent bike and a helmet. You should also consider investing in a bright, reflective garment that will help motorists to see you better.

Work clothes are suitable for short, low-impact rides, while Spandex bike shorts and a change of clothes are recommended for rides that are longer than a half hour. (more…)


Five Tips When Ordering Food for Your Office

If you’re regularly tasked with ordering individual meals or catered lunches for events at your office, you’re responsible for keeping a lot of people satisfied. We’ve compiled five tips to help you keep the team happy and minimize your stress when ordering food.

Photo Credit: Dan Gold

  1. Order Early

Nothing throws a wrench in a restaurant’s operations like a late order they’re trying to squeeze in. The reality is good restaurants are doing as much, if not more, business with their delivery partners than their in-house customers. Traditional kitchens are not designed with this kind of volume in mind, and it can quickly overload the staff.

If possible, order 2-5 days in advance and schedule your food to be delivered on the early side of your lunch window. That way you won’t get stuck behind last minute orders, or an in-house rush of customers.

  1. Get Your Food From One Vendor Who Can Accommodate All of Your Dietary Needs

One-stop shopping for office vegans, celiacs, and those with food allergies, helps on multiple levels. First, it cuts your workload. Second, it helps with accurate labeling and answering any questions you may have after the food has been delivered. Third, if the restaurant is running ahead or behind schedule, all of the food will show up at one time. Few things are more stressful than having food for only some of your hungry co-workers. (more…)


New Riders

Welcoming Taylor, Chris, Eden, and James to the PPP Team!

You may or may not have seen their faces by now. We are proud to introduce Taylor, Chris, Eden, and James to Portland Pedal Power. They are a great addition to the team, with their smiling faces, strong legs, able bodies and minds, and the drive to contribute to the community by sustainably delivering the finest foods Portland has to offer. We are happy to have them representing PPP out in the streets and in your offices. We’ve asked them a few questions to help you get a little more familiar with them.

 

TAYLOR

Where are you from, and how long have you been in Portland?

Santa Barbara CA. Been living here for 10 years

What do you do outside of PPP?

Cook, garden, bike, camp

Best Thing about working for Portland Pedal Power?

Being outdoors, riding bikes, being in touch with the city

Favorite restaurants in town?

Egyptian Brothers falafel food cart, Saint Burrito food cart, Captured Beer Bus

Favorite place to bike in town?

East side. Less people, more neighborhoods, better stuff. It’s more mellow and relaxed

Favorite bar?

Beulahland.

What are you looking forward to this rainy season?

Getting out of Oregon and going to the Southwest for a while.

(more…)


SCOOOORE! PPP Voted Best Delivery in Portland

Best of WinThe people have spoken! Portland Pedal Power was voted Best Delivery last week in the Willamette Week Best of Portland issue. We beat out services like Postmates, Delivery Dudes, and Caviar for the win. Just goes to show that Portlanders like to keep it local. We are more than a sustainable homegrown company, we deliver from only the best local vendors and we pride ourselves on excellent, responsive customer service. We’ve built the service from the ground up, constantly improving, since 2009. We’re a startup that never stops!

Our win caught the eye of local newscaster Keely Chalmers of KGW News and she called us up Thursday morning for a news segment that came out AWESOME! Check it out. Producers snapped a GoPro on one of our delivery bikes and caught some great footage of us zipping around town during a busy lunch rush.

PPP News

Watch the video!

KGW was particularly interested in our commitment to sustainable delivery, picking up on the fact that our bike deliveries save approximately 11 metric tons of C02 every year.

Just today we delivered about 700 meals to hungry locals, featuring big orders from vendor favorites such as Tamale Boy, Pacific Pie Company, Garden Bar, Cha! Cha! Cha!, and Aprisa Mexican Cuisine.

We are proud to be appreciated for our delivery services in one of the best cities for food in the US. We are gonna keep riding, keep dishing up the goods, and making the best delivery even better.

Thanks, Portland, for the love!


Welcome Sassy Stephen!

23172120953_6d9aa939e9_bOur Brand Ambassador Rider Stephen Sines has just stepped up in his new role as Catering Lead. So, for those of you who order large lunches and event catering from us frequently, you’ll be treated to the special catering stylings of “Sassy Stephen” (his nickname round the office).

Over the last seven years, Portland Pedal Power has evolved from simple bike delivery service to large office lunch and event caterers. Stephen will be helping to advance our level of service further, ensuring your team is satisfied, from breakfast to lunch to happy hour.

Stephen will work with new and existing customers and corporate accounts to assess and meet standing order and catering needs. He says he is “looking forward to providing our customers with a variety of cuisine options they haven’t yet tried.”

About Stephen: he’s a Virgo that likes isolation tanks, trail running, kilts, gardening, frisbees, and generally hard-to-do things. With a background in physiology, holistic & sports nutrition, and biomechanics, he’s a Portland native who has never left and says he’ll be here for his last days too.

Welcome Stephen and drop him a line at [email protected].