Black Market for Homemade Chinese Food in Santa Barbara

The number of Chinese food deliveries through social media has doubled in the recent year. While some Chinese food deliveries are prepared by licensed Chinese restaurants, most of them are made by Chinese international students or Chinese immigrants who have no license for the business. The sales of that homemade Chinese food have increased dramatically in the last year, partially due to the increased size of incoming Chinese international students. That homemade food is carefully packed into boxes and sells as combos which consist of one main course (usually are dishes cooked with pork, beef, or chicken,) steamed white rice and some vegetables. One delivery account on social media could post more than three combos available that today and even some Chinese traditional dessert. All we have to do is messaging the social media account with the name of the combo and the address; then the amateur chef will show up at your doorstep with a warm meal around dinner time.

As much as we want to interview “a student chef,” they all respectfully declined our request. However, we can get in touch with one visiting parent, Amy, whose daughter is a Chinese international student currently studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara and interview her experience in this black market.

Amy has accompanied her daughter to study in UCSB for more than one year. “At first, I only cook for her daughter daily. Sometimes my daughter would invite friends over for dinner, and they all enjoy my dishes a lot which they said ‘it reminds me of the taste of home.” Amy explains why she got into this business, “Since I could not have a job in the states and have much free time, I thought why not cook for more Chinese students and make some money along the way.” According to Amy, she will go to Costco to buy a substantial amount of meat and vegetables where the ingredients are much cheaper than other stores. Sometimes, she needs to drive to Chinatown in LA to purchase some Chinese traditional sauces and spices that are not available in Santa Barbara. She insists on cooking every day with fresh ingredients and only sells the food on the same day. In weekends, as the order piles, Amy would pay 3 dollars per delivery to hire people to do the deliveries for her. In this way, she can make a considerable profit. Her combo price starts at 15 dollars where the actual cost is two to three dollars per combo. Amy can earn more than 4000 dollars a month. Moreover, since her combos are ordered in social media, Amy needs little effort to advertise as her daily menu is shared between friends and social media groups.

Amy’s side business is just one of the dozens of social media accounts for homemade Chinese food. As some students make and sell home-made food and dessert by social media during their spare time, they can capture the dietary interests of their peers and develop a certain number of consumers by providing foods of good taste. Providing food delivery service is convenient for student customers who do not want to go out to dine, such as Isla Vista, or even further in Goleta or downtown Santa Barbara. And the price of home-made food is inexpensive compares to regular Chinese restaurants. However, the home-made food business is of risks. For customers, they have no certainty of the seller’s health qualifications or their food processing conditions. The lack of these necessary guarantees is what customers need to pay attention to. Once the food is substandard, the customers will pay far more for their health than they can imagine. As for the sellers, the sellers have no insurance and legal operation licenses, so they can hardly take responsibility when their customers get food poisoning. Furthermore, as a result of lower price, student sellers attract many customers away from restaurants, where they may be reported by the restaurant owners, which can lead to their deportation from the U.S. as they violate the condition on their student visa.

Despite all the drawbacks, these social media account for homemade Chinese food delivery hold an indispensable position in the Chinese international student community. Jiang, a sophomore Chinese international student in UCSB, claims that “I don’t know what to eat without those homemade deliveries.” Chen, a junior student in UCSB, reveals his take on this black market, “I love the delivery a lot. It’s a push and pull. I can message ‘the chefs’ to suggest the inadequate flavor of the food, and they always keep improving its taste. I’m glad that there is more homemade food emerges because people start to realize there just ain’t enough authentic Chinese restaurants in Santa Barbara.” Indeed, with more two thousand Chinese international students in UCSB, there are less than ten authentic Chinese restaurants in the whole Santa Barbara area. Is it really a crime to comfort someone’s palate and to lessen their homesick? As the number of Chinese international students keep rising, creating a large demand, there will be more Chinese restaurants in the future. But until then, the black market for homemade Chinese food is still our choice.

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