Ensure Affordability of Your Food Offering
“Wholesome sandwiches or full-plate lunches can be bought at a reasonable price and consumed quickly on the premises or taken out. At one buffet, you can get a hot meal of collard greens, chicken, sausage, roast, and salad for around eight dollars. Working people and retirees on fixed incomes take advantage of this bargain, at times meeting their old friends and making new ones.”
The Reading Terminal Market
Cosmopolitan Canopy [1] page 34
Reading Terminal Market
Main Dining Area
Affordability is critical in encouraging social experience in a food hall. In the above description of the food offering at the Reading Terminal Market, Anderson defined affordability by the regularity of visits by a wide variety of people, including workers around the area and retirees with limited income [1].
The top 3 ways to spend $15 at the Reading Terminal Market
Pulled Pork Sandwich at DiNic’s ($10.50)
This is not the more commonly talked about roast pork (see: Travel Channel, Best Sandwich in America), for which the sliced pork really needs a ladleful of jus on top to keep it from being too dry. No, this is juicy shreds of meat pulled from a whole roast pork shoulder just seconds before landing in your sesame-seed hoagie roll. Definitely add sharp provolone, and also broccoli rabe if you like deliciously bitter things. The line is always long, but moves fast.
Cannoli at Termini Bros. ($3.50)
File under if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: Third-generation Philadelphians Vincent and Joey Termini still use the same techniques and recipes their grandfather did when he started this South Philly bakery 94 years ago. Get the ricotta chocolate chip filling if you want the real deal.
Lunch Special at Dutch Eating Place ($6.50-$7.50)
Not only do you get a huge platter of food plus a drink in these daily-changing specials, you get to sit down right there at the snaking formica counter and dig in with real silverware (a premium at RTM). Pick from choices like a house-ground cheeseburger and fries, chicken and waffles or roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. Each special also comes with lemonade or iced tea.
Samosa at Nanee’s Kitchen ($3.25)
Two Pakistani sisters with an Indian mother fuse the cuisines of those two countries for a wide-ranging menu full of vegan and Halal options. Best deal is the samosas, pocket pies with an extremely flaky crust that are more filling than you’d expect. Chicken is a favorite, but they also come in spinach-ricotta and other flavors. Pick mild, sweet or spicy (really hot!) for your sauce on the side.
Salmon Curry at Little Thai Market ($7)
Skip the Pad Thai and the chicken dishes (both are pre-cooked and sitting in a steam table) and go for the fish here instead. A huge portion of salmon is grilled to order and set over steamed broccoli and rice, then doused with a surprisingly delicate red curry cream sauce. Note: like many establishments here, this is a cash-only operation.”
— The Top Three Ways to Spend $15 at the Reading Terminal Market [12] / www.billypenn.com
READING TERMINAL MARKET, PHILADELPHIA
VARIETY OF DINING OPTIONS
“You can find all the must-try local foods here. Being the largest hawker centre in Singapore with over 260 food stalls, Chinatown Complex Food Centre offers foodies a full range of local dishes from chilli crab, black pepper crab, BBQ stingray, BBQ chicken wings, satay, carrot cake, char kway teow, Hokkien mee, chicken rice, bak kut teh, frog porridge, dim sum, lor mee, prawn noodles to kway chap and pork intestine as well as popular desserts like ice kachang, chendol, tau suan, and soya beancurd.
Food are offered at the cheapest prices: Food prices at Chinatown Complex Hawker Centre are very reasonable and competitive because there are many stalls selling similar foods. Diners can enjoy a plate of chicken rice or a bowl of laksa at prices from S$2.50 to S$3.00.”
— Chinatown Complex Food Centre, Singapore [4]
NEWTOWN HAWKER’S CENTRE, SINGAPORE
VARIETY OF LOCAL FOOD FARE
A City of London report titled “Understanding London’s Markets” identified increasing the “affordability” of what the markets offer as one of the critical opportunities for local authorities to consider in improving markets [13]. The Kellogg Foundation report on Public Markets and Community Based Food Systems highlighted “affordability” as one of the five main elements for food security [9].
Unfortunately, “affordability” had a higher meaning attributed to public markets in 1918 versus public markets in 2013, in a study conducted to further understand the changing meaning of a public market [7]. This decline of “affordability” in public markets is likely due to the increasing pressure of rent and the cost of real estate on the operation of a current market stall holder, especially in a city location [6, 10].
The recent report by the (Singapore) Hawker Centre’s Public Consultation Panel recognized the need to continue to provide affordable food for Singaporeans. They are now exploring options to reduce the rent costs for the stalls, by building hawker centres under a “not for profit” model, by reducing the amount of reserve rent (or deposit) required from prospective stall vendors, and by increasing the number of hawker centres around the country [11].
“In recent years, there has been increased public discussion on the cost of living, of which food costs are a major part. In view of this, the Government announced in October 2011 that about 10 new hawker centres will be built in the next 10 years to increase the provision of affordable food. This increase would have a dampening effect on curbing future increases in food cost.”
— Report of the Hawker Centres Public Consultation Panel [11]
The challenge to ensure “affordability” in a food hall environment covers not only the prepared meals. To ensure “affordability” to a larger segment of the community, the food hall must include or be adjacent to a fresh produce market offering vegetables, fruits, meat, and seafood [5, 8]. This will allow resident shoppers to regularly cook affordable meals at home, rather than eating out often. These markets should also plan for the acceptance of food coupons, to encourage visits by lower-income households [2, 3].
“Farmers markets can also improve access to fresh produce in communities of various income levels. Farmers markets are increasingly accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—formerly known as food stamps— from low-income participants, thereby increasing access to fresh foods in many communities. A total of $19.4 million in SNAP benefits was redeemed at farmers markets in the United States in 2015, which is four times higher than the rate in 2009. This increase is attributable to markets making investments in outreach, education, and incentive programs for low-income residents, as well as support from federal, state, and local governments.”
— Cultivating Development, Trends, and Opportunities at the Intersection of Food and Real Estate
Urban Land Institute [2] Page 10
Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia
Sample stall offering fresh produce
“Affordability” is one of the most important elements which a food hall must work on, in order to ensure the maximum possible benefit for the community. It impacts on the number of and diversity of a food hall’s visitors. At the same time, however, “affordability” needs to be balanced with the economic viability of the food hall. There are various programs and policies which communities can implement, to assure “affordability”. These include the acceptance of food coupons and the subsidy of some portion of rent for the stall holders. Planners will benefit from researching best practices and deciding what will best fit their community’s needs.
Sources:
Elijah Anderson, The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life (New York, New York W.W. Norton & Co., c 2011. 1st ed.).
'Cultivating Development, Trends, and Opportunities at the Intersection of Food and Real Estate', (Washington, DC, USA, Urban Land Institute, 2016).
'Findlay Market: Snap Plus Program', <http://www.findlaymarket.org/snap-plus-program>.
'The Five Best Hawker Centres in Singapore', in The Best Singapore (2018).
Karen Franck, 'Food for the City, Food in the City', Architecture Design May/June 2005.
Peter Jones, David Hillier, and Daphne Comfort, 'Changing Times and Changing Places for Market Halls and Covered Markets.', International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 35 Issue: 3, (2007) pp.200-209.
Nancy B. Kurland and Linda S. Aleci, 'From Civic Institution to Community Place: The Meaning of the Public Market in Modern America', Agriculture and Human Values, 32 (2015), 505-21.
Susan Parham, 'Designing the Gastronomic Quarter', Architecture Design May/June 2005.
'Public Markets & Community-Based Food Systems: Making Them Work in Lower-Income Neighborhoods', (New York, New York, Project for Public Spaces, 2003).
'Public Markets as a Vehicle for Social Integration and Upward Mobility', in Phase I Report: An Overview of Existing Programs and Assessment of Opportunities (New York, New York, Project for Public Spaces, Inc. & Partners for Livable Communities, 2003).
'Report of the Hawker Centres’ Public Consultaltion Panel', (Singapore Ministry of the Environment & Water Resources).
'The Top Three Ways to Spend $15 at the Reading Terminal Market', in billypenn.com.
'Understanding London's Markets', (The Local Enterprise Partnership for London (LEAP), Office of the Mayor of London, 2017).