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 peoples 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
peoples 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.
[INSERT REASON FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC STREET FOOD]
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.

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 lowincome 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.