How Street Food Markets Empower Communities
It’s surprising that England does no have more street food stalls. Unlike say US cities like New York or Portland (or in many countries abroad like Italy – where people can buy slices of pizza on the street), England tends to have more of a ‘big supermarket’ culture”, or petrol stations that sell sandwiches.
Vegan Asian Street Food offers recipes from scallion pancakes to satay skewers, along with fresh summer rolls and hearty rich dishes.
Street food is an affordable way for a self-employed cook to set up shop, and he or she can sell hot nutritious food to local people at an affordable price, giving good nutrition and taste for far less, and bringing local money back into communities.
Obviously you have to set up proper safety caveats and get good insurance. But after that, it’s a pretty good way to earn a living, without getting involved in massive corporate ventures, or high rents for premises. After the one-off cost of a food truck, the rest is plain sailing.
Here is a good simple guide to starting a food truck business in England.
What kind of street food to serve?
Vegan food is always good, as many people now eat plant-based. This way you don’t have to ‘serve different types of food to different people’, as everyone can enjoy healthy kind food that’s good for them, animals and the planet.
A lot of street food tends to be ethnic (falafals, noodle bowls, pizza etc). And you’ll find that buying the base ingredients are cheap (you don’t want to sell cheap meat, as this will be factory-farmed). Avoiding meat also means lower insurance as you won’t have cross-contamination risks, and food hygiene logistics are simpler.
And focusing on local fresh produce, means you can source a lot of your ingredients from local allotments and farms, meaning more fresh seasonal food, and lower costs.
Examples of street food abroad
- India – Mumbai’s Vada Pav stalls employs hundreds of thousands of vendors, offering street food made with simple fryers, cooked in front of customers.
- Egypt – Cairo’s Koshari carts offer high-proint mixes of lentils, rice, macaroni and chickpeas, topped with spiced tomato sauce – a staple, affordable and profitable comfort food for an entire nation
- Trinidad & Tobago – Doubles Carts offer street breakfasts made from fried flatbreads filled with curried chickpeas. Very cheap to produce and quick to serve, these are populat nationwide.
- Vietnam – Hanoi’s street vendors sell portable sandwiches made with tofu and pickled vegetables, popular with both commuters and tourists.
- Portland – this rainy city on the US northwest is known for its vegan street food. There are whole clusters of street food vendors, selling everything from noodle bowls to vegan cheesecake slices.
Vegan street food in England to inspire
Taste of Cambridge offers a small range of tasty street food boxes, including falafels with hummus, tahini and salad. Everything is made fresh, and sold in biodegradable packaging. Most vegetables are sourced from just down the road.
Vegan Markets run street food stalls nationwide, from homemade food to handmade soaps. Running a stall with them means you get all your info and marketing covered, with added support for newbies.
Read up on food safety for people and pets. Bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).
For tinned ingredients, rinse then then remove lids (pop ring-pulls over holes). Then use your fingers/thumb to ‘pinch’ inner rims together before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
