Description of the street food off er in the railway stations of Buenos Aires city

Abstract

Introduction. Due to the lack of official statistics or academic works on street food sales in Buenos Aires city, it is relevant to have systematic data that serve to stimulate future work and research, which can be taken as inputs for public policies, but also for new insights on food behaviour in the 21st century. The objective was to survey the offer of street food in the train stations of Retiro, Constitución and Once.

Materials and method. The methodology used involved ethnographic recording of the street stalls, as well as informal interactions with the vendors. It temporarily covered the winter and austral spring months of 2022. It focused on supply rather than demand, as the former is less mobile and stays in place longer than the latter. The different types of sales spots and the different products offered were the focus of the research, as well as similarities and differences in street food supply among the three stations, and particular types and brands of food from the central stations were described. Notes and photos were taken of the stalls, their structure and also their offer. The number of sales spots surveyed for all stations was more than a hundred. Data were analyzed using specialized methodologies for qualitative data, including lexical analysis or text mining.

Results. Among the main findings, 156 food stalls were recorded, with different structural characteristics, 79 were fixed and the rest were movable. In only two stalls were fruit salads found as part of the offer; the rest of the food sold was packaged and mostly ultra-processed. At Once station, there was a peruvian food stall and a bolivian one. At Retiro station, there were a few stalls selling Paraguayan food. At Constitución station, there were no stalls selling ethnic foods. In all the observations, people were seen consuming in these stalls, which gives an idea of the importance of this type of consumption.

Conclusions. Given the paucity of scientific studies on street food consumption in train stations, it is considered that this text can be a starting point for future research. Based on the importance of this type of consumption, based on the number of people who pass through these centers daily and the number of food stalls that were observed, it is necessary to carry out studies that delve into issues related to food safety, as well as the motivations of both consumers and vendors. This publication provides elements to begin to understand the phenomenon, as it establishes a hierarchy of positions and a detail of the products offered, which can serve as the primary authorizing officer for future research.