While other trucks sport slick paint jobs, the Green Pirate Juice Truck exterior is bedecked with graffiti-style leafy foliage for a look that’s decidedly renegade. If ever there was a truck made for roaming the urban jungle, it’s the Green Pirate Juice Truck.
Owner Deborah Smith is a holistic health coach and graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, as well as a longtime home juicer. But even avid juice lovers will admit that the labor-intensive process of completely disassembling a juicer and attacking it with tiny brushes to get rid of all the lingering pulp is a major pain. As Deborah puts it: “My roommate and I were juicing at home on a daily basis and would often wish that there was a juice bar in the neighborhood so at least every once in a while we wouldn’t have to clean the juicer.” One day they were lying in the park when the ice cream truck rolled by. They thought “it was unfortunate that people had such easy access to food that was not good for them but couldn’t get a healthy juice or a salad that easily. Lightbulb.”
“It’s always helpful to vend in a location where there are a) lots of people, b) good vibes (like the Grand Army farmers’ market), and/or in our case, health-minded individuals.”
The menu on the truck is seasonal and constantly evolving. Juices aren’t the single-fruit or veggie affairs you might pick up at your local grocery store, but rather inventive combos with fun names like the McCarrot Park—a zippy blend of carrot, apple, and ginger—or the Pear Essentials—a refreshing mix of pear, cantaloupe, lime, cucumber, and mint. The namesake Green Pirate clocks in with not one, not two, not three, but four green fruits and veggies—spinach, green apple, cucumber, celery, ginger, and lemon.
When it comes to creating new recipes, Deborah says they “start with foods that are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and superfood qualities that would have maximum energy and health benefits, then apply knowledge of acid/alkaline foods and try to find a balance.” Over the years, the menu has gotten healthier with the addition of more vegetables to the drinks. “When we first got started, there were almost never greens on the truck, and now green juice is the bulk of our business,” says Deborah. “After a few years we began selling coconuts and coconut smoothies, adding superfood powders and hemp proteins to smoothies, and growing our own wheatgrass.”
Personal relationships with local farmers help keep the truck stocked with fresh veggies. As soon as fruits and vegetables come in season, you can expect to see them make an appearance on the truck. “I love creating specialty drinks out of produce that just popped out of the ground!” Deborah says. While the truck starts up for the year in the spring, fall is actually Deborah’s favorite season. “Fall is amazing because the green markets are bursting with colors and flavors, and we can make the best juice! I’d say September and October are our busiest months.”
The Green Pirate originated out of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, but recently it’s been making regular stops at curated food truck lots around the city. With a couple of lunchtime appearances per week, they’ve started offering a healthy lunch menu consisting of vegan wraps and snacks, in addition to juices. During the winter, they make bottled juice deliveries. The business is both health-conscious and ecoconscious. The truck runs on biodiesel fuel. The juices are served in compostable corn plastic cups. Customers who bring their own reusable cups get a fifty-cent discount off their drinks. Organic waste from juicing gets composted and distributed to farmers upstate.
As passionate as Deborah is in her mission to bring juice to the people, the challenges are many. The physical aspects of the job can be draining. It takes a lot of produce to make juice. There are crates to haul and pulp to compost. “Being one of the only women in a male-dominant industry, learning about diesel engines and fuel, dealing with the mechanical aspects of the job, driving a giant step van around that’s painted like a peacock, serving a product that’s actually good for you, fighting with ice-cream-truck vendors, having our tires slashed multiple times and our lives threatened, months where it rained every day and we had no business, finding parking, maintaining regular street spots, keeping our product consistent and affordable while navigating the challenges of offering organic vs. local produce, and finding ways to communicate that to our customers, finding and keeping staff … shall I go on?”
Still through it all the Green Pirate has enabled Deborah to act as a healthy living ambassador to New Yorkers who might never otherwise seek out her holistic-health coaching services. There’s a certain magic in “the look on a person’s face when they come to the truck because they think we sell ice cream and I convince them to try a healthy juice—and they discover that they like it! I have personally turned hundreds of New Yorkers onto drinking fresh juice, and that’s a good feeling.”
Adapted from Deborah Smith’s recipe
This smoothie was inspired partially by Deborah’s travels to warmer climes, where it’s common to find cooling fruit-based beverages. “It was ushered onto the truck’s menu by the demand of our loyal customers in South Brooklyn who hail from the islands Trinidad, West Indies, and other tropical climates, who would come to the truck religiously asking for these items,” says Deborah. If you prefer a less pulpy smoothie, you can use just the freeze-squeezed juice from one orange. Deborah recommends peeling and freezing your bananas so they are cold when you blend and you don’t need to use ice cubes, which will water your smoothie down.
½ ripe banana, peeled
1 large navel orange, peeled and quartered
1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
¾ cup organic coconut milk
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
TIP: For a lighter version, substitute fresh coconut water for coconut milk.
Adapted from Deborah Smith’s recipe
For a more decadent and omega-3 rich version of the Tropicolada (page 173), try this variation with avocado.
½ avocado
1 large naval orange, peeled and quartered
1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
¾ cup fresh coconut water or organic coconut milk
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
Adapted from Deborah Smith’s recipe
This smoothie is possibly the most piratical of the Green Pirate Juice Truck’s beverages. A simple drink consisting entirely of fresh coconut—its juice and its meat, Deborah recommends customizing it to your personal taste. “You can add other flavors to it, such as pineapple, banana—or even throw in some dark leafy greens and blueberries to get your nutrients in there. The basic smoothie is divine, but add your favorite flavor to make it your own!”
1 fresh, young coconut
Open coconut, drain coconut water into a blender, and scrape out as much coconut meat as possible. Blend and serve chilled or over ice.
