Photo of Pete Bonahoom (right) and Lee Zukor (left) by Arif MamdaniThanks to our friends, families, and community for coming out to play at Galactic Pizza in Minneapolis on Thursday night. We ate well, shared stories, and (some of us) went home with tasty prizes from Equal Exchange, Peace Coffee, and SGT. Thanks especially to the great folks at Galactic Pizza, including owner Pete Bonahoom, for churning out dozens of delicious (and free!) pizzas with a purpose, including:
- Organic veggie: tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, organic button mushrooms, organic roma tomatoes, organic green peppers, and organic red onions.
- The Thailander: spicy Thai peanut sauce (contains gluten), mozzarella cheese, marinated free range chicken, organic green onions, bean sprouts, shredded carrots, crushed peanuts, and fresh organic cilantro.
- Ranch Dude: creamy ranch sauce, mozzarella cheese, organic roma tomatoes, all natural bacon, organic button mushrooms, and organic red onions.
- The Galactic: homemade hemp pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, organic button mushrooms, garlic, organic roma tomatoes, and oregano.
- Many, many more.
Galactic Pizza, as Bonahoom explained, was started on the belief that even a neighborhood pizza place could be a socially responsible business with a "double bottom line" (do good work, make good money). Here's what it says on Galactic's website:
Photo courtesy of cnn.money.comAt Galactic Pizza we have a positive vision of the future on our planet. We see a world that lacks the greed and self centeredness that has led use into the chaotic state that we see today. We see a world full of cooperation, sustainability, and harmony with our surroundings.
Here are a few of the values led activities we are currently engaging in:
- When conditions allow, our food is delivered to your door using 100% electric vehicles.
- All of the power purchased to run our restaurant is renewable wind energy.
- All of our mozzarella cheeses come from cows not treated with rBGH.
- We have incorporated a number of organic items into the menu.
- We have the Second Harvest Heartland pizza, where $1 is donated to this hunger relief organization every time the pizza is ordered.
- We strive to use packaging that is either made from recycled materials, or is 100% biodegradable.
- We incorporate hemp products into each menu category, and print our menu on hemp paper. Hemp is not only good for you, it is also very good for the Earth.
- In season, we try to purchase all of our produce from farms here in Minnesota or in nearby Wisconsin.
- We have an in depth waste reduction program utilizing composting for food waste and recycling whenever possible.
- 5% of our pre-tax profits are donated to charity
Bonahoom is as committed to his pursuit of this vision as he is to a culture of fun. For example, pizzas are delivered by spandex wearing superheroes driving electric cars. (You can read that again if you didn't get it the first time, and we've included a photo above so you get the idea.)
Despite the free-flowing free food (and tasty local beer and organic wine to purchase), some of the crowd decided to go ahead and buy their own cheese bread and pizza. This included Hayley, a new friend of mine who is both gluten intolerant and a vegan, eating pizza for the first time in years with a huge smile on her face. Bonahoom explains, "I don't think I could ever be vegan, but I have lots of respect for people who are and I want to make sure they can eat here too."
Thanks a lot, Pete, for all you do. We had a great time.
Photo of Scott and Stella Danielson (left) and Jill and Mark Grunewald (right) watching Pete Bonhaoom speak by Arif Mamdani
