What are the advantages of eating street food?

Street foods contribute significantly to the diet of many living in developing countries. Furthermore, street foods are convenient, cheap, easily accessible and a source of income to many poor people who would otherwise not find employment.

What are the problems associated with street food?

The main risk factors that make street food a significant contributor to foodborne illnesses are inadequate infrastructure, improper food handling and poor sanitary conditions at food vending points [2, 5, 15].

What are advantage of street vendors?

Low barriers to entry, limited start-up costs, and flexible hours are some of the factors that draw street vendors to the occupation. Many people enter street vending because they cannot find a job in the formal economy.

Is street food good for the health?

The only drawback of street food is that it falls under the category of what most deem as junk food. It is true that a large part of what constitutes street food is devoid of nutrition and any significant health benefits , but there are some dishes that may not necessarily fall into the list of foods one must avoid.

What are the positive and negative effects of fast food?

Fast food can be a good way to save time; however, it is not the right way for nutrition. It provides excess calories and fat. Fast food creates a much higher risk of heart diseases because of the high level of saturated fats found in fast foods. These fats can clog the arteries and increase cholesterol levels.

Pros and Cons of Street Food (2024)

Street food, especially Indian street food, has it’s own pros and cons and whether or not it benefits or harms you depends on the frequency or manner in which you eat it. While an occasional treat of street food could do a lot to satisfy your food cravings, constant gorging can lead to health issues. Also, apart from the direct or indirect health risks it can pose at times, street food carts, trucks and stalls can contribute to issues already existing in the area of their business. We point out the various pros and cons of eating street food.

Pros or advantages ofeating Street Food

1. Street food is readily available food to satisfy your hunger.

In this fast paced and busy corporate life, many suffer from hunger (not able to eat breakfast or lunch) owing to lack of time or a helping hand to prepare food. Many rush off to their offices without breakfast and there is no need telling what an empty stomach can do to your day. Street food comes as a savior for all such hungry people by providing them with ready to eat morning snacks or breakfast to start their day with a calm mind.

2. Street food is easy on the pockets

Street food is cheap and hence, easyon the pocket in regular markets. It doesn’t cost much to have enough on yourplate to satiate your hunger. Most of the street food offerings are cheap comparedto anywhere in the food industry. It is even cheaper than fast food that is somuch a choice of many junk foodies around the world. So, you can fully satiateyour taste buds and hunger at throwaway prices.

3. You can see what is being cooked at street food carts or trucks

Eating at a street food cart or truck allows you to see what you are about to eat, something you can’t always do at restaurants. You get to see the ingredients, the surroundings and conditions the food is being cooked in, the hygiene and expertise of the cook or chef and the overall cleanliness. So you get to decide whether or not you would like eating at such a place. That allows you to whether eat at a particular street food cart or skip it completely.

4. Waiting time at street food carts is less as compared to restaurants

In a majority of cases, street food doesn’t take long to be served as it gets cooked on a continuous basis and prepared well in advance. The thing is that street food vendors know their daily outgo and the number and kind of people or foodies who throng their food carts. Also, there are a number of food carts or stalls in such places distributing the number of hungry people evenly.

Cons or disadvantages of eating Street Food

1. Street food quality can be questionable

The quality of food available atstreet food carts or trucks may not necessarily be always be bad but littlebelow average quality norms. Why? Well, in a bid to keep the costs and theselling prices low, street food vendors tend to compromise on the quality ofthe ingredients they use for cooking that can include vegetable and groceriesand even the oil being used.

2. Street food can be related to health issues in many cases

Many researches and case studies have linked street food tohealth issues. It is proved that the impact of eating street food on a regularbasis and sometimes even once in a week, can have a significant impact on yourhealth. The level of sugar, fat and salt found in most of the street food itemsare more dangerous than those found anywhere else. So apart from bouts of foodpoisoning and other gastric issues, street food can lead to severe healthcomplications if they become a daily habit accompanied by a lack of exercise.

3. Street food vendors end up spreading garbage and filth increasingthe risk of germs and bacteria

You must be well aware thatstreet food vendors don’t have a proper garbage disposal system and in most ofthe cases, the waste is collected and thrown away in close distances likepavements or street corners. While some of them get cleared up by the civicadministration, some spots get neglected and over time, become major diseasesspreading spots of the area. As a result these spots get infested with pestsand flies that further increase the chances of infecting the very food thatthese vendors sell and people eat.

4. Street food carts and stalls may lead to traffic issues in alreadycrowded places

Now this may not be directly related to people eating at street food joints but nevertheless a point worth mentioning. As street food carts or stalls are mostly located in business centric areas, being thronged by office or college goers or simply foodies, they tend to increase the crowd around them further adding to the traffic problems in the area. The more people eat at such food joints, the more crowded the places get and the more traffic snarls the area faces. So eating at street food joints also contributes to the traffic problems of places.

5. Street food could become a daily habit

It would sound funny, but many street food lovers develop a strange obsession with it and end up avoiding home made food completely. Though it many not harm them if they have the money and the appetite but in cases where they lack both, it can have a negative impact. Also, like pointed out earlier, the quality of street food can be questionable at times and people may end up ruining their health over time.

Advantages and Disadvantages of eating Street Food in short

Advantages of eatingstreet food

Street food is readily available food to satisfy your hunger.
Street food is easy on the pockets
You can see what is being cooked at street food carts or trucks
Waiting time at street food carts is less as compared to restaurants

Disadvantages ofeating Street Food

Street food quality can be questionable
Street food can be related to health issues in many cases
Street food vendors end up spreading garbage and filth increasing the risk of germs and bacteria
Street food carts and stalls may lead to traffic issues in already crowded places

So should we eat street food and is street food healthy?

We can and should eat Street food cooked using quality food materials, in hygienic conditions and in good surroundings as it is as good as home cooked food at times.

How frequently should we eat street food?

Street food should be eaten less frequently and in lesser quantities. Avoid over eating street food items or getting addicted to them.

Eating street food however, may differ from person to person as some people eat for the love of street food while others eat beacuse they have to.

Many office goers and collegians (youngsters) eat street food on a daily basis as they have no options to satisfy their hunger. For such people the frequency of eating street food on a regular basis is a necessity.

As far as possible eat street food less frequently if you have food available at home.

Working peoplePeople never from carts and stalls that are located in dirty or filthy surroundings and run by untidy vendors who pay no attention to the quality of the food and the overall cleanliness of the place, apart from the health of those who eat at their stalls. Street food should be affordable but not at the expense of it’s quality. Anything else is just junk and should be avoided.

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Last Updated on November 5, 2022 by lp@admin