Street Food

This picture captures two young men eating away at PANK's doubles in UWI St Augustine. Here we see the consumption of one of Trinidad's most famous street food. These foods have grown in popularity because they are often cheap, portable and delicious.

We have already established that dietary habits and nutrition of persons within urban areas have changed from the traditional home cooked meals (Rae 1999). To cope with the hectic urban lifestyles of many Trinidadians today, urban areas such as Port of Spain offers a wide variety of street food prepared outside of homes. Street food has been defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as food that is ready to eat and sold by vendors and alike on streets and similar public places (Darbano 2003).

There is no doubt in one’s mind that Trinidad offers a wide range of delicious street food, all influenced from their melting pot of diverse cultures.  I must admit on my arrival here for my first time, I was immediately drawn in and mesmerized with foods like doubles, aloo pie, sahina, roti, gryo. With the delicious combination of sweet, savory and spicy flavours, no wonder the lines are never ending in front of street food stalls. Many urban dwellers find it very convenient to purchase these foods when they are on the go, as they are cheap, portable and delicious. The prevalence of street food vendors is increasing as a market of many hungry busy urban dwellers provide a readily accessible market, just like these guys diving away in the photo. However, employment gained in the informal sector within urban areas provides a reliable source of income for many households in Trinidad (FAO 2010).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtpmbBy-vxE

Increased urbanization in Trinidad has transformed the urban space to that of an “open kitchen”. This is showcased along streets such as the Ariapeta Avenue, lined with street food vendors with amazing aromas, and ninja like speed serving up fast orders. In comparison back home (Bequia) where the level of urbanization experienced in Trinidad is yet to dawn its face on us, the opposite is evident. However, street food vendors contribute significantly to the daily diet of many urban dwellers and also plays is a a part of urban culture.

References

Darbano, Carmen. 2003. “ Caribbean Regional Working Group on Street Food Vendors.”Review of FAO, PAHO and BNSI. Castries, October 23-25, 2002.

FAO.  2010. “The Impact of Global Change and Urbanization on Household Food Security, Nutrition and Food Safety.” Accessed March 14, 2014. http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/nutrition/national_urbanization_en.stm.

Rae, Allan. 1999. “Food Consumption Patterns in Urban Java Households: the discriminatory power of some socioeconomic variables.” The Australian Journal of Agriculture and Resource Economics 43:3, 359-383.