Street Food

As the economic crisis eats away the basic needs of Filipinos, including food,

many turn to low-cost ways to feed their hungry stomachs. Street food, undeniably an

essential part of people’s life, is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations (FAO) as ready-to-eat foods and beverages prepared and/or sold by

vendors or hawkers especially in the streets and other similar places. Likewise, It

cannot be contested that street food has definitely established itself as a part of many

people’s eating habit. As a matter of fact, a study from FAO (2007), as cited by Fellows

and Hilmi (2011), reveals that there are approximately 2.5 billion people world-wide

eating street food every day. Additionally, a survey by Chung and Takemoto (2010), as

cited by Fellows and Hilmi (2011), reveals that 67 percent of Bangkok households

cooked only once a day and bought one to two meals of ready-to-eat food from street

food vendors. Street foods offer diversity in the raw materials used as well as in how

each street food is prepared and presented. This is often reflected by local traditional

culture which highlights endless variety. Usually, street food vendors' stalls are

commonly situated in the open or under a roof which is easily accessible from the

street. Their marketing success depends exclusively on location and word-of-mouth

promotion.

Street food industries are crucial for the economic planning and development of

many towns. The influence of the street food markets to the economies of developing

countries such as the Philippines has been greatly undervalued and overlooked.

However, statistics supporting the Street food industries effects do exist. According to

Fellows and Himli), the annual sales of street foods amount to US$67 million in the

Indonesian city of Bogor. Additionally, the research indicates that the street food

industry also plays a considerable socio-economic role in the employment sector.

Locally, in a fast-growing city such as Davao, the street food industry is expected to

absorb unskilled workers who are unable to find jobs, thus becoming a significant asset

to its economy. Finally, the street food trade is a huge boon for the tight pockets of

substandard workers as well as students due to it being easily available, conveniently

cheap, and fairly tasty.

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RRL

The research conducted by FAO (2007), as cited by Fellows and Hilmi (2011),

indicates that over 20,000 street food vendors provide city residents with an estimated

40 percent of their overall food intake. Moreover, its study in developing countries also

reveals that 20 to 25 percent of household food expenditure is incurred outside the

home, with majority of it depend entirely on street food. It concluded with the main

reason of the findings attributed to street food being extremely cheap and accessible.

As cited by Steyn (2011), the study published by Feeley et al., (2009) on fast food

consumption found out that:

“30% of the participants consumed fast foods five to seven times a week

with another 20% having it two to four times a week. They postulated that

street foods would probably make a significant contribution to total dietary

intake since many items were substantial meals in terms of energy value.”

The study of Chung and Takemoto (2010), as cited by Fellows and Hilmi (2011),

showed that:

“street foods provide economic opportunities for low and middle-income

people, especially for women. This becomes true especially in economic

recessions where people become street food vendors in addition to other

jobs they may have. In Bangkok most of the enterprises, 82 percent,

employ fewer than four people and interestingly are owned and operated

by women. This gender-based employment creates a dual benefit in that

women have access to income as well as regular access to food for their

families.”

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References:

Allain, A., & Winarno, F. G. (n.d.). Street foods in developing countries: lessons from

Asia. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved

from http://www.fao.org/docrep/u3550t/u3550t08.htm

Chung, C., Ritoper, S. & Takemoto, S. (2010). Bangkok and access to food for low-

income residents, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, United

States of America. Cited by Fellows, P. & Himli, M. (2011). Selling street

and snack foods. FAO Diversification booklet 18. Retrieved from

http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2474e/i2474e00.pdf

Feeley A. (2009). SA: Fast-food consumption among 17-year-olds in the Birth to Twenty

cohort. Cited by Steyn, N. (2011). Factors which influence the

consumption of street foods and fast foods in South Africa-a national

survey. Nutrition Journal, 10, 104. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-104

Fellows, P. & Himli, M. (2011). Selling street and snack foods. FAO Diversification

booklet 18. Retrieved from

http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2474e/i2474e00.pdf

Steyn, N. (2011). Factors which influence the consumption of street foods and fast

foods in South Africa-a national survey. Nutrition Journal, 10, 104.

doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-104.