Street Food, Food Safety and Sustainability in an Emerging Mega City: Insights from an Empirical Study in Hyderabad, India

Abstract

Street food vending is an integral part of the food provision system and food culture of urban India. The street food sector (food items that are directly prepared and consumed on the street) show great potential for fostering sustainable development, not only in the ecological but also in the economic and social dimensions. This highly decentralized food distribution system provides affordable, nutritious and culturally accepted food items tailored especially to the needs of poorer urban dwellers. It operates on the basis of resource efficiency, low waste output and low greenhouse gas emissions. Street food also provides a flexible yet profitable source of income, especially for those who do not fit into the formal economy. To unleash its potential for sustainable development and integrate the street food sector in city modernization programmes, several challenges concerning modes of street food governance and food safety must be met. The new Street Vendors Act is the first promising step towards decriminalizing and legalizing the businesses and livelihoods of tens of thousands of petty trade vendors. Despite the new regulatory framework, the street vending sector remains largely marginalized. This chapter starts by presenting major changes in the food system of the emerging Indian mega city of Hyderabad, then provides the findings and experiences of an applied Indo-German research project on street food vending, emphasizing contested street food governance and capacity building measures related to street food safety and sustainable livelihoods.