Street Food Justice

Keywords: justice, food systems, informal economy
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 31

Abstract

Street food is prevalent, but largely underrepresented in food justice research. This oversight has had perverse effects on both policy and practice as federal, state and local funding and policy supports criminalize street food vending. Only recently have researchers have noted that small-scale mobile retailers such as farmers’ markets, produce trucks and healthy street food offer locally-owned, culturally-relevant, cost-effective healthy food access in many parts of the world (Yasmeen, 2001; Brinkley et al, 2017). Street food vendors do not require real estate, need little start-up funding, and can easily target schools and neighborhoods with poor access to healthful foods. Policies to encourage healthy street food vending present a public health intervention approach that is low-cost and builds upon already existing vending practices in many low-income communities.

In this research, we explore the public health benefits and the current public policy limitations of street food vending nationally and through a use-case focused on California. Recent legislation in California (SB 946, 2018) mandates that local ordinances cannot regulate street food vendors for reasons beyond public health concerns. We found that the majority of California cities (85% of those reviewed) and counties (75%) include street food vending regulations that go beyond public health rationale and include labor laws and restrictions on time and hours of operation. We highlight the need for policy change and note that broader legalization of street food vending offers a unique opportunity to reassess the associated health benefits reviewed in prior literature.