Challenges and opportunities of street food vending by migrants in Santiago, Chile

Abstract

In recent years, Chile has become the country in Latin America where migration has grown the most. The last study of Cepal and OIT, showed an immigration influx of 4,9% from 2010 to 2015. This phenomenon has meant a lot of socio-demographic changes, which can be well exemplified in a larger affluence of migrants selling food in the streets. However, in the past years there have been regulations and procedures imposed on migrants, aimed to stop street food vending, primarily due to migrants not being able to fulfill the sanitary standards necessary to sell food. Aiming to portray this situation, a questionnaire was developed with the purpose of describing Street food vending by migrants. This questionnaire was applied to 64 vendors in the months of July to September 2017. The results showed that most of Street food vendors were women (59,4%), in contrast to men (40,1%), with a medium age of 33 years old, and that migrants selling food come mostly from Latin America. On the other hand, migrants seemed eager to establish their business, but recognized different problems to achieve it. The results of this study are a first entrance necessary to comprehend the dynamics of Street food vending, the problems that migrants face, and the challenges and opportunities that this kind of job presents to the public and sanitary politics of Chile.