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Piles of plump grapes, oranges and granny-smith apples spilled across a red-and-white checkered tablecloth outside City Hall Wednesday — a food stand effectively banned by municipal regulations.

While North American cities from New York to Portland, Ore., have perfected the art of street food — with a myriad of trucks offering everything from empanadas, to lobster, to cupcakes — Toronto lags far behind, a point driven home by Wednesday’s quiet protest. Local advocacy group Food Forward, which doled out fresh fruits to passersby free of charge, said the city has fumbled attempts to expand the size and scope of Toronto’s street-food program.

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Councillor Josh Colle, who stopped by to snag an apple, urged the city to back off and let the market decide what kind of street food Torontonians want.

Puritan Toronto rears its ugly head again

“It’s unfortunate that for so long we’ve had this burgeoning industry that really City Hall has kind of kept down,” Mr. Colle said. “It’s a matter of red tape and overmanaging this… I think it speaks to how antiquated some of our rules are. It’s 2013; puritan Toronto rears its ugly head again. Let’s just get over ourselves and open it up to these entrepreneurs.”