ABSTRACT
As urban cores in Canada and the United States revitalize and repopulate, interest in street food is resurgent as well. However, despite a strong demand for lively public spaces complete with an exciting diversity of street food, most cities are wrestling with a half-century’s accumulation of rules and regulations designed explicitly to prevent street vending. Overturning the attitude that streets are for car traffic and not for public food consumption is not easy; success has been mixed and highly location-specific. This chapter discusses three case studies: the failure to reintroduce a street food program to Toronto, Ontario; the on-going and, to date, successful staged introduction of street food in Vancouver, Canada; and, finally, the unusual success of street food in Portland, Oregon. The authors will conclude with policy recommendations outlining how Canadian and American cities can transition from street food-hostile environments to regulations that encourage and accommodate street food while maintaining public food safety standards.
