THE PA MELTING POT: KIOSKS NOW AND THEN PART 2 – WORLD WIDE KIOSKS/STREET VENDORS

KIOSKS NOW AND THEN PART 2 – WORLD WIDE KIOSKS/STREET VENDORS

Western Pa’s ethnicity just cries out for available ethnic street foods:  German, Polish, Hispanic, Greek, Italian, etc.  Although traditionally western Pennsylvania’s usual signature street food is the hot do , offerings by the Downtown and North Side street VENDORS (aka kiosks) range from a creative German food cart which offers Bulletten (meatballs served with an egg on top on a bun with grainy mustard and a pickle) and Das Lamb (kebabs served on flat bread with cabbage, roasted vegetables and a spicy mayo sauce) to a taco truck aka kiosk which serves Mexican and other tacos:  one could be local ground beef w/ cheddar jack and fresh salsa or another could be grilled chicken w/ cheddar jack, fresh salsa or spicy jerk chicken w/avocado-lime cream or Thai peanut chicken w/sweet chili slaw.  More food vendors serve from Greek brisket gyros to Polish pierogies to Asian spicy dumplings to Japanese seaweed salad and to Italian Neapolitan style pizzas.

In larger cities in the world you might find from spicy Middle Eastern falafel to Jamaican jerk chicken to Belgian waffles.  In Hawaii the local street food tradition of "Plate Lunch" (rice, macaroni salad and a portion of meat) was inspired by the Japanese plantation workers’ Bento Box. In Denmark there are sausage and hot dog wagons.

Differences in culture, social status and history have resulted in different patterns on how family street vendor enterprises are traditionally created and run in different areas. For example, few women are street vendors in Bangladesh, but women predominate in the trade in Nigeria and Thailand.   The Filipino cultural attitudes towards meals is one "cultural factor operating in the street food phenomenon" in the Philippines because eating "food out in the open, in the market or street or field" is "not at odds with the meal indoors or at home" where "there is no special room for dining".

Walking on the street while eating is considered rude in some cultures such as in Japan or Swahili cultures, although it is acceptable for children.  In India, there is a "marked distinction between food that could be eaten outside, especially by women," and the food prepared and eaten at home.

In Tanzania's Dar es Salaam region, street food vendors produce economic benefits beyond their families by purchasing local fresh foods which has led to a proliferation of urban gardens and small scale farms. 

In the United States street food vendors are credited with supporting the rapid growth of cities by supplying meals for the city's merchants and workers. Proprietors of street food in the United States have had a goal of upward mobility, moving from selling on the street to their own shops.  

However, in Mexico, an increase in street vendors has been seen as a sign of deteriorating economic conditions in which food vending is the only employment opportunity that unskilled labor who have migrated from rural areas to urban areas are able to find.

As of 2011, street stalls/kiosks remain the primary outlet for consumer foodservice demand for a large portion of the world’s population. Serving fast, affordable and often local fare, street vendors are a key part of the foodservice landscape in many of the world’s fastest growing markets. It is reported that  there is a special focus on opportunities for global food chains to leverage the flexibility offered by kiosk formats which will continue to add to the street vendor phenomenon.