Street Vending

Street food vending is found around the world, but has variations within both regions and cultures. Street food refers to ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street/roadside or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker/vendor, often from a portable stall. Street food is so called because it is usually sold (though not necessarily made) on the streets by people who can’t afford restaurant rents to people who can’t pay restaurant prices.  Some of the most mouthwatering dishes that India has to offer can be found underneath a small umbrella-covered food cart on a sweltering city road. But eating street food anywhere besides a dirty roadside stall, is that it's messy and unhygienic. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street foods are also called as both finger food and fast food, and are generally cheaper than restaurant meals. Historically, street food is purchased because many urban poor often do not cook food in their homes; some even do not have kitchens in their residences. People opt to eat street food mainly due to affordability, i.e. low prices and convenience. Still others purchase street food for other reasons, such as to obtain reasonably priced and flavourful food in a sociable setting, to experience ethnic cuisines and also for nostalgia. Moreover, the food items sold in these stalls are cheap and also hot, besides their servicing is also a lot quicker than the other bigger restaurants.

According to recent estimates   made by FAO, on an average nearly, 2.5 billion people eat street food every day throughout the world; but most of them are found in the developing countries. Data regarding the actual number of people who eat street food in India are scanty and conjectural.  According to rough estimates everyday almost 250 million people depend upon roadside eateries. During the past decade or so, roadside eateries have mushroomed in and around the cities and towns and even villages all over India, particularly in central business districts, near markets and other crowded areas, often obstructing traffic and pedestrians, besides causing hindrance to other shop keepers.                                       

Chennai city is no exception to the emerging trend of mushrooming of roadside eateries. Numerous roadside eateries have come up all over the city and the number of people street food has increased by leaps and bounds recently. And a large part of the population of the meets a substantial part of its dietary and nutritional needs through meals and beverages offered by outdoor vendors. According to rough estimates there are about 25000 to 30000 roadside eateries in Chennai. Such roadside eateries are popular in Chennai not only among the low income groups but also among the middle class. But the rapidly mushrooming of roadside eateries in Chennai is also due to due to the enormous increase in liquor consumption and floating population. Consequently, these days, almost every road/ street has numerous roadside eateries. The food sold in some of the roadside eateries Chennai is solid hearty stuff that keeps labourers going through tough days. Earlier street food included mainly idly, vada, bajji, bonda, pakoda, samosa as well as beverages such as sugarcane juice and lassi. But today it also include all sorts of no-vegetarian items such as biriyani, fried-rice, barotta, mutton/chicken/fish masala/curry, mutton/chicken/fish fry, chicken 65, chicken tandoori, etc.

Mushrooming of roadside eateries during the past decade has in fact posed many problems. Though the food is found to be tasty and affordable, most of the time the hygiene standards are not followed. Many believe that from the hygienic point of view it is not safe to take food from these eateries though on the cost factor definitely cheaper.. Official say that proliferation of small eateries over the last few years in the city has compounded the menace. Most of such eateries show little regard to hygiene and health of consumers, and specialise in cuisines that require use of high amounts of oil. It is reported that many of them utilise used-oil from big restaurants. Moreover, the unhygienic and contaminated environment exposes the food to open air, where there is every chance of the dust on the road and other insects settling down on the food. Vendors generally prepare food with their bare hands, passing on germs to what they have on offer. Generally, the water used to prepare the food and to clean the cooking and eating utensils and sometimes are other sources of contamination. The food is often stored and sold on open trays paving the way for the germs from garbage heaps on the streets to get transmitted. People manning the food stalls rarely wear gloves, have disposable plates and keep their food items covered. Most of them operate without any proper license/registration. Most of them operate without any proper license/registration. Therefore, steps should be taken to license/ register the roadside eateries and regulate their operation, but not try to eliminate them because it is not only a source of livelihood for many but also cheap food for the poor.