The locus of Street Food in the city of Natal / RN: an analysis of the street food economic cycle from the perspective of the Creative Economy
Street Food, Culture, Creative Economy, Natal / RN, Public Policies.
Street Food is a vigorous urban phenomenon, it has a great social, economic and cultural impact, and which directly involves such an abundant number of people, among producers and consumers, that it should not be ignored. It seems that it is an economic activity that depending on how it is seen, by whom it is conducted, and which economic, social, and political logics are tied to its existence, it has the potential to be supported or rejected. In this way, it is understood that its dynamics depends on contextual factors to be studied for its better understanding. From previous research and reflections upon the Creative Economy and Creative Industry, with more depth in Brazil, Street Food is presumably to be an activity that can also be understood as part of this field. Given that, the main objective of this work is to reflect on the economic cycle of Street Food in the city of Natal / RN, based on the Public Policies to foster the Creative Economy in the country. Therefore, in this context of its recent valorization and its strengthening as an economic activity in the Brazilian major cities, this exploratory research work considers the expansion of Street Food through food trucks and their variants, and investigates its narrative, strategy of action, discourses behind it. Through a qualitative approach supported by several research techniques, such as semi-structured interviews and observation, it's undertaken an approximation between the the concept of Creative Economy in Brazil, its characteristics, its guiding principles and the Public Policies belonging to its scope with the activity of Street Food in expansion in capitals cities such as Natal \ RN. Subjects directly involved with the activity, the street food workers themselves, as well as indirectly, public managers and gastronomy specialists are heard and the social, economic and cultural discourses that follows the Street Food scene are analyzed. It is also observed how this movement its materializes, its embodied practices that constitutes them and representations. Thus, it is expected to obtain more substantial evidence and a broad spectrum of perceptions and information sufficient to meet the objectives of this dissertation.