6 Reasons To Eat Street Food

by Christian Eilers

Eating street food is one of the cheapest and best ways to immerse yourself in another culture while you are traveling. In our increasingly mysophobic culture in North America and other first world countries, we only see more and more reasons why eating something off the street is as bad as, well, eating something off the street. Many vacationers stay away, as the small gathering of people surrounding a street vendor seems to exude everything that their vacation is intended to keep them away from: crowds of lower-class people, cheap food, dirt and disease, lawless behavior, and stress. Youre on vacation; why should you exert energy fighting through a crowd of people, up to a cart where they probably cannot understand you, to get food that in 5 hours will leave you hugging the toilet? Its not worth it. Heres why its worth it: 1. Price - You cannot eat much more economically than when you eat street food. Sure, maybe you could go to the market and buy all the same ingredients and do it yourself, but do that when you are not traveling. Street food is always cheaper than eating the same thing in a restaurant, which is great for backpackers and others who are on a strict budget. In Southeast Asia, you can often grab your entire dinner for about $1 USD. 2. Culture - You are eating what much of the local population eats. The Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that 2.5 billion people get at least one meal from a street stall every day. Thats almost half of the worlds population! This street food is the real deal, not a modified version that you would find at a restaurant back home; this is what real people eat every day. 3. Cleanliness/Safety - Ok, so I cannot argue that eating street food will be safer than eating comparable foods in the restaurants; thats a bit of a stretch. However, here are a few points to perhaps ease your mind. First, the ingredients that street vendors use tend to be very fresh. Also, they literally cook the food right in front of you; dont look too hard, though, as you will surely find a reason to change your mind. If you are ordering souvlaki from a guy, and you still feel unsure, get it well-done. Finally, pick places with high turnover and let the free-market system be your guide. Ingredients will likely be fresher, and if a place is popular with the locals, there couldnt have been too many problems with the place. 4. Interaction With the Locals - Picking that street cart with the high turnover also allows you to interact with the population. These vendors, when compared with a more touristfriendly restaurant, have had less practice speaking your language; you put yourself in a position where you somewhat force yourself to use what vocabulary you know so that you can get your meal. This is a great way to hone your knowledge of the local language. 5. Give Back to Your Host Country - When you eat street food, you are supporting great people who work very hard to make ends meet. I am not very fond of giving money to a

homeless person who just stands at the bottom of the stairs when entering the subway; Id much rather give my money to someone who really needed it, but earned it. Selling food on the street is definitely not a scam or a get rich quick scheme. Many of these people that do it have little or nothing else to turn to. Whether you buy the bakso in Jakarta or just a dirty-water dog in New York, you are supporting an entire working-class family. 6. The Experience and the Memories - Picture this: You go over to a man who has a shopping cart that he has converted into a portable grill. You look at the questionable things sizzling. Rubbery things. Slimy things. With a little trepidation, and a little more hesitation, you point to something. The man smiles as he shovels the food onto a plate and pulls out a stool from under the shopping cart for you to sit on. It ends up being some of the best chicken that youve ever tried. You will retain a memory like this, whereas you wouldnt remember even the name of any standard restaurant 5, 10, or 15 years from now. Eating street food can still make you sick. Even if you see a vendor with many customers, your host countrys locals have built up a bacterial tolerance and immunity, perhaps, that you just havent got. Be open to trying these new and different things without being naive and stupid. Eat like a local, but perhaps you dont need to drink like a local. Stay away from ice in your drinks, and any kind of tap water. Bring some Pepto Bismol tablets, as the antidiarrheal offerings in many third world countries often times just dont do the trick. If you do get an upset stomach, drink something like Pedialyte, as the worst part of diarrhea and vomiting is the loss of electrolytes and fluids. And if you get sick once, dont steer clear of all future street eats. Chalk it up as a bad experience, Yelp about it, but try a different one next time. In the end, trust your gut; your gut will try to give you the best judgment, because it definitely doesnt want to be tied into a sailors knot a few hours later. http://www.dauntlessjaunter.com/2011/05/14/6-reasons-to-eat-street-food/

Street food: To eat or not to eat

By Henrylito D. Tacio Saturday, February 4, 2012 "FOOD per se is not dangerous, improper food handling is." That was what Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio told Sun.Star Davao when reporter Jereco O. Paloma asked if total ban of street food in the city is possible. Davao City was one of the four identified areas in the country where food sold on the street is not safe to eat. According to a study by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Center for International Migration and Development, food samples taken from various streets in the city did not pass quality standards. The lady mayor clarified that even before the DOST conducted its study, the government has been constantly monitoring the safety of street food. We have distributed carts that are ideal for street food cooking and display, vendors use hair nets, go thorough food handling seminar and get ID from City Health Office, she said. Aside from Davao, the other areas identified by the study were Cagayan de Oro, Laguna and University of the Philippines-Diliman campus in Quezon City. The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), a line agency of DOST, warned the public that street food stalls do not pass the same process as certified food establishments. Although the institute is not discouraging street food vendors from selling their products, it suggested that vendors undergo training in food handling to ensure safety. Street food is more than just a convenient food source in the Philippines; it is an integral part of the landscape and culture. Filipinos are known to enjoy the average three meals a day plus merienda or snacks. Those living in industrialized countries like the United States, Australia, and United Kingdom, may prefer dining and eating pizzas when hunger pangs strikes. Filipinos, on the other hand, race to the streets to satisfy their hunger for their favorite street foods for a few pesos. Street foods are ready-to-eat foods and beverages prepared and/or sold by vendors or hawkers especially in the streets and other similar places, explains the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.

Street foods represent a significant part of urban food consumption for millions of low-andmiddle-income consumers, in urban areas on a daily basis. Street foods may be the least expensive and most accessible means of obtaining a nutritionally balanced meal outside the home for many low-income people. Most items that you will find out on the streets all over the country are made out of inexpensive items that are very affordable, agrees Jayson Bagio, who writes about food dining restaurants in the country. They tend to say a lot about the country, because, as most people know, the Philippines is not exactly a rich country. Being in the Third World, these food items are perfect because they are easily available, cheap, and tasty. There are many types of foods sold in the street and here are certain favorites found in almost every place in the Philippines: kwek-kwek (made of quail eggs covered in orange dough and deep fried), isaw (chicken intestine put on a stick and grilled), fish balls (minced fish rolled into balls), balut (pre-hatched duck egg), betamax (a cubed, curdled blood of a chicken), adidas (the marinated grilled chickens feet), atay (marinated and barbequed liver of chicken), and helmet (the grilled head of a chicken). Other fillers of hungry stomachs are: maruya (a combination of bananas and flour, deep fried until golden brown), kikiam (made of ground pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd sheets then deep-fried until golden), calamares (deep-fried battered squid rings), mais (corn on a cob, but it could also be salted boiled corn), and green mango with bagoong (unripe mango on a stick with a salty, fermented sauce or paste made from small shrimps or fish). For drinks, the following are common: buko juice (coconut juice that can be drunk directly from the buko itself), iskrambol (a simple shake with artificial flavors), and sago and gulaman (a refreshingly cold drink made out of tapioca and jelly). Wherever they are in the world, Filipinos who have tried these street foods clamor for them. One Filipino now living abroad revealed: I miss the Philippines and I love street foods. I miss those moments when my sisters and I would go to the stalls in the street and ate those street foods together. Most street food are both finger and fast food. Street food costs less than a restaurant meal. No wonder, 2.5 billion people eat street food every day, according to FAO. Theres money in street foods. In Bogor, Indonesia, annual sales of street foods amount to US$67 million. If one computes the average daily sales of the 100, 000 stalls in Malaysia, annual street food sales amount to US$2.2 billion. The significance of the street food industry has often been ignored because it is considered part of the informal sector, a position paper said. Previously, the informal sector was

thought to symbolize a lack of economic development that would and should disappear with modernization. Until more permanent jobs could be provided by the modern sector, the former was expected to absorb unskilled workers who migrated to the city from rural areas. Today, local authorities, international organizations and consumer associations are increasingly aware of the socioeconomic importance of street foods but also of their associated risks. With the increasing pace of globalization and tourism, FAO said in a statement, the safety of street food has become one of the major concerns of public health, and a focus for governments and scientists to raise public awareness. The major concern is related to food safety, but other concerns are also reported, such as sanitation problems (waste accumulation in the streets and the congestion of waste water drains), traffic congestion in the city also for pedestrians (occupation of sidewalks by street vendors and traffic accidents), illegal occupation of public or private space, and social problems (child labor, unfair competition to formal trade, etc.). Concerns of cleanliness and freshness often discourage people from eating street foods. According to experts, all street food, cooked or raw, can cause gastroenteritis, typhoid and hepatitis, depending on the bacteria or viral infection they contain. Most contamination is caused by contact with feces. Other causes of infection are the food growing yeast, because its not stored properly, and flies. In Davao City, initial findings of the DOST study showed that foods sold on city streets were tested positive for certain bacteria called Escherichia coli (E. coli) and salmonella. E. coli is one of several types of bacteria that normally inhabit the intestine of humans and animals. Though most of the strains are considered as harmless, others can cause kidney damage and severe diarrhea and even death. Salmonella is a kind of bacteria that can survive many weeks and months in optimum conditions and cause diseases like typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever or other food-borne borne illnesses. Death is not uncommon in salmonella infection. The Department of Health has been constantly releasing an advisory urging the public to be extra careful in buying food and drinks from street vendors. In its website, the DOH said consumers of street foods are susceptible to food- and water-borne diseases caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites as well as non-infectious diseases caused by chemical and plant toxins. The risk of serious food poisoning outbreaks linked to street foods remains a threat in many parts of the world, FAO said. A lack of knowledge among street food vendors about the causes of food-borne disease is a major risk factor.

Eating street foods may be cheap, but there are also dangers that can cause health problems. There was this case of a woman in her forties who suffered vomiting, scarred skin and muscle pains after eating calamares. A series of laboratory tests conducted by the Bureau of Food and Drugs found out that there was a huge amount of formalin, a form of formaldehyde (a preservative) in the imported frozen squids. The contaminated calamares caused the adverse effects in the womans body that circulated through her blood. So, next time you eat those foods sold in the streets, think twice.