Informal Food Spaces: Implications for Public Health

Abstract

The chapter converses on the implications of informal food spaces to public health in urban areas. The study indicated that urban areas are dynamic and fluid due to their ever-changing forms, function and formula. As a result, maintaining formality in such environments has strongly appeared to be a challenge to the urban planning profession. Document analysis was utilised in this study focusing on two major case areas that are; Harare CBD and KwaMereki in Warren Park, Harare. The study identified an increase of vendors and food outlets in the informal food spaces and these pose a threat to public health due to their illegal nature, lack of portable water and sanitation provisions and preparation processes of the foodstuffs. Notable among the findings is that the preparation of foods both onsite and offsite is open to contamination since vendors do not practice safe hygienic food handling.