Assessing the Availability, Density and Distribution of Street Food Vendors in Mexico City Using a Newly Developed Assessment Tool
How does street food contribute to Mexico City's nutritional environment and economy?
Global health doctoral student Jose Rosales Chavez will defend his research proposal, "Assessing the availability, density and distribution of street food vendors in Mexico City using a newly developed assessment tool." His committee members are Associate Professor Megan Jehn, Assistant Professor Meg Bruening, Professor Rebecca Lee and Professor Punam Ohri-Vachaspati.
Abstract
Street foods are a key element of the Mexican food environment. They are an important source of food security and employment for thousands of people, and they offer a large variety of food options. These range from energy-dense (e.g. fried snacks) to nutrient-dense (e.g. fruits and vegetables) foods. However, to our knowledge, there has been no systematic assessment of the location, distribution and availability of food items sold by street food vendors (SFVs) in Mexico.
The goal of this proposed study is to: 1) develop and test a nutrition environment assessment tool specific to SFVs; 2) determine the density and distribution of SFVs; and 3) document the availability and price of street foods. The assessment tool will be developed using concepts from previously developed tools that might apply to SFVs. Food items associated with street vendors not found in previously validated tools will be defined and added to the new assessment tool. Five observational areas (800-meter radius buffers) from low and five from high marginal census tracts will be assessed by researchers who will walk through randomly selected street segments, within each of the 800-meter radiuses, to document the location, availability and prices of food items sold by SFVs. We expect SFVs to be available mainly in high traffic areas and to have a higher density in high marginal areas than in low marginal areas. We expect the type of food items to vary depending on the following factors: marginal levels, the type of SFVs and the type of venues located near the vendor’s site.