August 29, 2008

Japanese sweet corn

On several stretches of Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City, you'd see vendors selling corn on the cob, both raw and cooked. They chose areas where there are no business establishments and just set up on the sidewalk. Cars stop beside them on the street—with no regard for other drivers inconvenienced by their doing so—and buy a kilo or two. In some stretches, these vendors were only about ten meters apart. This particular one was lucky, because the one before her was 300 meters away and the next one was 50 meters away. I could never understand how they actually made money, being so close to each other and having so much competition. I won't be able to ask them now—I just found out today that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, which has jurisdiction over the metro's national highways, has removed all of the corn vendors, improving the flow of traffic. I'm also happy for pedestrians, who had been forced to step onto the road because the vendors were hogging the sidewalk. But I can't help but feel bad for the vendors, most of whom are very poor. I really hope they find themselves a better place to sell their sweet corn.

sweet corn vendor

13 comments:

Rob said...

I have found thet the best grown food comes from street vendors. But in our town, they must hava permit and permission o sell from a parking area away from roads and businesses.

 gmirage said...

I love sweetcorn, here, they are imported if in not mistaken, from Argentina, but never can compare to sweet taste of ours...

Tha trike is already on the cement that is really dangerous. I understand your sentiments and the MMDA's move...it would be good to have a place where they can sell those corn without danger and with permission no?

Debbie Courson Smith said...

We have people around here who sell sweet corn out of the backs of pickup trucks this time of year....I haven't noticed anyone being unsafe, and I always know that IS the best corn.

Lisa Wilson said...

Now I'm totally craving some sweet corn!! I hope the vendors find a better spot, too. The traffic being that close looks dangerous.

Olivier said...

beau contrasme entre l'ancien et le moderne. Un peu dangereux comme endroit quand même.
contrasme fine line between old and modern. A little dangerous place anyway.

Ken Mac said...

a little close to the road don't you think? But that corn looks good.

melanie said...

Intéressant !

Halcyon said...

Yum! I may have to boil up some corn-on-the-cob tonight!

Erik W. Laursen said...

I too hope they find a better place to sell. It looks difficult to pull over and make a purchase.

pusa said...

yeah i've seen them too and wonder how can they make a profit when they are practically beside another vendor. anywys aside form these corn vendors there are a lot of peddlers knocking on car windows along that area, i even bought some nilagang mani once :)

Louis la Vache said...

"Louis," too, hopes they find a good place and can make some money - but he understands that they were both an obstruction and a hazard.

Eki said...

I seems our cities have similar problems when it comes to street vendor like this. I just posted a similar story yesterday.

Jane Hards Photography said...

I hope too that get a proper space to sell their goods. I agree with dusty lens street food is ofen just so tasty. Not something we get in the UK. It's just facinating seeing the differences around the world.