Table 1.
Variation in the number and distribution of mobile food vendors (N = 212a) by weather
| Vending in fair weather only (Vendors that reported not operating in precipitation) | Vending in all weather (Vendors that reported operating even in precipitation) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vending category | “Healthier” N (%)b | “Mixed” N (%)b | “Less-healthy” N (%)b | Total N (%)c | “Healthier” N (%)b | “Mixed” N (%)b | “Less-healthy” N (%)b | Total N (%)c |
| A. Fresh produce | 51 (87.9) | 7 (12.1) | 0 (0.0) | 58 (31.7) | 5 (83.3) | 1 (16.7) | 0 (0.0) | 6 (20.7) |
| B. Ethnic prepared | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 16 (100) | 16 (8.7) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (28.6) | 5 (71.4) | 7 (24.1) |
| C. Other prepared | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 28 (100) | 28 (15.3) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (36.4) | 7 (63.6) | 11 (37.9) |
| D. Frozen novelty | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 74 (100) | 74 (40.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (100) | 4 (13.8) |
| E. Other | 0 (0.0) | 2 (28.6) | 5 (71.4) | 7 (3.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (100) | 1 (3.5) |
| Total | 51 (27.9) | 9 (4.92) | 123 (67.2) | 183 (100) | 5 (17.2) | 7 (24.1) | 17 (58.6) | 29 (100) |
“Healthier” = offering only whole foods like fresh produce, unprocessed grains, or unsweetened nuts; “Less-healthy” = offering only processed or prepared foods like bagged chips, preserved meats, and various confections; “Mixed” = offering a mix of “healthier” and “less-healthy” food items.
Data on whether vendors conducted business in all weather were not available for the total sample of 372 mobile food vendors. Reasons included: vendor being in transit and not approachable for interview (n = 72); vendor refusal to answer questions for any of a variety of reasons (Lucan et al., 2013) (n = 56); vendor being absent from open cart/truck/stand (n = 7); vendor having long line of customers (n = 6); vendor not speaking English or Spanish well enough to communicate answers to bilingual investigators (n = 6); vendor not being the owner of the cart/truck/stand and unsure how to answer questions (n = 4); vendor being unable to answer specific questions for any other reason (n = 9)
Percentages are row percentages and may not sum to 100% due to rounding
Percentages are column percentages and may not sum to 100% due to rounding