Street food#Japan

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Studioportret van een verkoper van saté met zijn pikolan en klanten TMnr 60027242.jpg street vendor in Java, Dutch East Indies, {{Circa|1870}}, using pikulan or carrying baskets using a rod]]

File:Frankfurter stand LOC det.4a13502.jpg throughout much of its history, such as these {{circa|1906}}, are credited with helping support the city's rapid growth.]]

In ancient Greece, small fried fish was a street food;{{Cite book |last=Kaufman |first=Cathy K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IFiIg7elnwIC&pg=PA75 |title=Cooking in Ancient Civilizations |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=9780313332043 |language=en}} however, the Greek philosopher Theophrastus held the custom of street food in low regard.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwVl22fXkC&pg=PR10 |title=Street Foods |publisher=Karger |date=2000 |isbn=9783805569279 |editor-last=Simopoulos |editor-first=A. P. |language=en |editor-last2=Bhat |editor-first2=R. V.}} Evidence of a large number of street food vendors was discovered during the excavation of Pompeii.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tWMtRLaZOEC&pg=PA97 |title=Food: The History of Taste |date=2007 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520254763 |editor-last=Freedman |editor-first=Paul |language=en}} Street food was widely consumed by poor urban residents of ancient Rome whose tenement houses did not have ovens or hearths.{{Cite book |last=Higman |first=B. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIUoz98yMvgC&pg=PT130 |title=How Food Made History |date=2012 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=9781444344653 |language=en}} Chickpea soup{{Cite book |last=Dalby |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FtIXAe2qYDgC&pg=PA283 |title=Food in the Ancient World A-Z |date=2003 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=9780415232593 |language=en}} with bread and grain paste{{Cite book |last=Civitello |first=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwRE0HIIyWkC&pg=PA319 |title=Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People |date=2011 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=9781118098752 |language=en}} were common meals.

A travelling Florentine reported in the late 14th century noted that in Cairo, people brought picnic cloths made of rawhide to spread on the streets and sit on while they ate their meals of lamb kebabs, rice, and fritters they purchased from street vendors.{{Cite book |last=Snodgrass |first=Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D7IhN7lempUC&pg=PA966 |title=Encyclopedia of Kitchen History |date=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780203319178 |language=en}} In Renaissance Turkey, many crossroads had vendors selling "fragrant bites of hot meat," including chicken and lamb that had been spit-roasted. In 1502, Ottoman Turkey became the first country to legislate and standardize the sale of street food.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XCjAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA357 |title=Street Food around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-Clio |isbn=9781598849554 |editor-last=Kraig |editor-first=Bruce |language=en |editor-last2=Sen |editor-first2=Colleen Taylor}}

In the 19th century, street food vendors in Transylvania sold gingerbread nuts, cream mixed with corn, and bacon and other meat fried on top of ceramic vessels with hot coals inside.{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Harlan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FrWgDRkS90EC&pg=PA118 |title=Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 1991: Public Eating: Proceedings |date=1991 |publisher=Prospect Books |isbn=9780907325475 |language=en}} French fries, consisting of fried strips of potato, probably originated as a street food in Paris in the 1840s.{{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfq5Tp0nq98C&pg=PA328 |title=France and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History |date=2005 |publisher=ABC-Clio |isbn=9781851094110 |language=en}} Street foods in Victorian London included tripe, pea soup, pea pods in butter, whelk, prawns and jellied eels.{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Clarissa Dickson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lvugrQV8epgC&pg=PT331 |title=A History of English Food |date=2012 |publisher=Arrow |isbn=9781448107452 |language=en}}

Aztec market places had vendors who sold beverages such as atolli ("a gruel made from maize dough"), almost 50 types of tamales (with ingredients ranging from the meat of turkey, rabbit, gopher, frog and fish to fruits, eggs and maize flowers),{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vY8Cb3Vc7LMC&pg=PA276 |title=Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia |date=2001 |publisher=Garland Publishing |isbn=9780815308874 |editor-last=Evans |editor-first=Susan Toby |language=en |editor-last2=Webster |editor-first2=David L.}} as well as insects and stews.{{Cite book |last1=Long-Solís |first1=Janet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyppownpnUQC&pg=PA124 |title=Food Culture in Mexico |last2=Vargas |first2=Luis Alberto |publisher=Greenwood Press |date=2005 |isbn=9780313324314 |language=en}} Spanish colonization brought European food stocks like wheat, sugarcane and livestock to Peru, but most commoners continued to primarily eat their traditional diets. Imports were only accepted at the margins of their diet, for example, grilled beef hearts sold by street vendors.{{Cite book |last=Pilcher |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GcwgxnOBXwMC&pg=PA23 |title=Food In World History |date=2005 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780203970058 |language=en}} Some of Lima's 19th-century street vendors such as "Erasmo, the 'negro' Sango vendor" and Na Agardite are still remembered today.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTo6c_PJWRgC&pg=RA3-PA226 |title=Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia |date=2011 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=9780313376269 |editor-last=Albala |editor-first=Ken |language=en}}

During the American Colonial period, "street vendors sold oysters, roasted corn ears, fruit, and sweets at low prices to all classes." Oysters, in particular, were cheap and popular street food until around 1910 when overfishing and pollution caused prices to rise.{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Katherine Leonard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f01RpO0QsDQC&pg=PA214 |title=Good Food for Little Money: Food and Cooking Among Urban Working-Class Americans, 1875–1930 |date=2008 |publisher=University of Delaware |isbn=9780549754237 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Street vendors in New York City faced considerable opposition. After previous restrictions had limited their operating hours, street food vendors were completely banned in New York City by 1707.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwVl22fXkC&pg=PA25 |title=Street Foods |publisher=Karger |date=2000 |isbn=9783805569279 |editor-last=Simopoulos |editor-first=A. P. |language=en |editor-last2=Bhat |editor-first2=R. V.}} Many women of African descent made their living selling street foods in America in the 18th and 19th centuries, with products ranging from fruit, cakes, and nuts in Savannah, to coffee, biscuits, pralines and other sweets in New Orleans.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gF8NCxGHyMMC&pg=PA71 |title=African American Foodways: Explorations of History & Culture |date=2009 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252076305 |editor-last=Bower |editor-first=Anne L. |language=en}} Cracker Jack started as one of many street food exhibits at the Columbian Exposition.{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Andrew F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IH6KFJ4Om0oC&pg=PA100 |title=Eating History: 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine |publisher=Columbia University Press |date=2011 |isbn=9780231140935 |language=en}}

File:Street food Yasothon.jpg Rocket Festival in Thailand]]

The selling of street food in China stretches back millennia and became an integral part of Chinese food culture during the Tang Dynasty. In ancient China, street food primarily catered to the poor, although wealthy residents would often send servants to buy street food and bring it back for their meals at home. Street food continues to play a major role in Chinese cuisine with regional street food generating a strong interest in culinary tourism among both domestic and international travellers.{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Dingbao |author-link=Wang Dingbao |title=Zìfù |script-title=zh:自負 |url=http://www.guoxue.com/tangyanjiu/tdsl/tzwy/tzwy_012.htm |website=Tang Zhiyan |language=zh |script-website=zh:唐摭言 |volume=12}} Because of the Chinese diaspora, Chinese street food has had a major influence on other cuisines across Asia and even introduced the concept of a street food culture to various countries. The street food culture in much of Southeast Asia was established by coolie workers imported from China during the late 19th century.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVf94-rwpJ8C&pg=PA63 |title=Slow Food: Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasures ... |date=2001 |publisher=Chelsea Green Publishing |isbn=9781603581721 |editor-last=Petrini |editor-first=Carlo |language=en}}

Ramen, whose predecessor was originally brought to Japan by Chinese immigrants in the late 19th or early 20th century, began as a street food for Chinese laborers and students who lived in Yokohama Chinatown.{{cite book |last=Okuyama |first=Tadamasa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-B6OPQAACAAJ |publisher=Akashi Shoten |year=2003 |isbn=978-4750317922 |language=ja |script-title=ja:文化麺類学・ラーメン篇 |trans-title=Cultural Noodle-logy;Ramen}}{{cite book |last=Kosuge |first=Keiko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b1mbAAAACAAJ |publisher=Kodansha |year=1998 |isbn=978-4062563024 |language=ja |script-title=ja:にっぽんラーメン物語 |trans-title=Japanese Ramen Story}} However, ramen gradually became a "national dish" of Japan and even acquired regional variations as it spread across the country.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppll3L_9fAsC&pg=PA260 |title=Japanese Foodways, Past and Present |date=2010 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252077524 |editor-last=Assmann |editor-first=Stephanie |language=en |editor-last2=Rath |editor-first2=Eric C.}}

Street food was commonly sold by the ethnic Chinese population of Thailand and did not become popular among native Thai people until the early 1960s,{{cite book |author=David Thompson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9FF8Sjr479AC&q=%22street+food%22+traditions&pg=PT20 |title=Thai Street Food |year=2009 | publisher=Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed |isbn=9781580082846 |access-date=2012-08-16}} when the rapid urban population growth stimulated the street food culture, and by the 1970s it had "displaced home-cooking."{{cite book |author=B. W. Higman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIUoz98yMvgC&q=%22street+food%22+&pg=PT130 |title=How Food Made History |date=2011-08-08 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781444344653 |access-date=2012-08-16}} As a result, many Thai street foods are derived from or heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine.{{cite book |author=Carlo Petrini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVf94-rwpJ8C&q=%22street+food%22+typical&pg=PA63 |title=Slow Food: Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasures ... |date=October 2001 | publisher=Chelsea Green |isbn=9781603581721 |access-date=2012-08-16}} About 76% of urban residents in Thailand regularly visit street food vendors. The rise of the country's tourism industry has also contributed to the popularity of Thai street food. Thailand's 103,000 street food vendors alone generated 270 billion baht in revenues in 2017. Suvit Maesincee, Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, expects the Thai street food segment to grow by six to seven percent annually from 2020 onwards.{{Cite news |last=Hutasingh |first=Onnucha |date=17 February 2020 |title=Smart Food Cart to Aid Gastronomic Tourism |language=en |work=Bangkok Post |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1858934/smart-food-cart-to-aid-gastronomic-tourism |access-date=17 February 2020}} Multiple studies showed that contamination of food that street food vendors sell is at the same level as the contamination at restaurants.{{Cite web |title=History of Street Food and Interesting Facts |url=http://www.historyoffastfood.com/fast-food-history/street-food-history-and-facts/ |access-date=3 January 2021 |website=History of Fast Food |language=en}} An estimated 2% or 160,000 vendors provide street food for Bangkok's eight million people.{{Cite news|last=Poon|first=Linda|date=14 April 2017|title=Bangkok's Street Vendors Are Not the Enemies of Public Space|work=Bloomburg City Lab|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-24/bangkok-s-street-vendors-are-not-pedestrians-enemies|access-date=3 January 2021}}

File:A local fruit Vendor in the old town.jpg

The Arthashastra mentions food vendors in ancient India. One regulation states that "those who trade in cooked rice, liquor, and flesh" are to live in the south of the city. Another states that superintendents of storehouses may give surpluses of bran and flour to "those who prepare cooked rice, and rice-cakes", while a regulation involving city superintendents references "sellers of cooked flesh and cooked rice".{{cite web| url = http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00litlinks/kautilya/book02.htm| title = Kautilya's Arthashastra: Book II,"The Duties of Government Superintendents"}}

In Delhi, India, it is said that kings used to visit the kebab vendors on the street, which are still in operation. During the colonial times, fusion street food was created, which was made with British customers in mind.{{Cite web |title=Street Food in India {{!}} Asia Highlights |url=https://www.asiahighlights.com/india/street-food |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=www.asiahighlights.com |language=en}}

In Indonesia, especially Java, traveling food and drink vendors have a long history, as they were described in temple bas reliefs dated from the 9th century, as well as mentioned in 14th-century inscriptions as a line of work. In Indonesia, street food is sold from carts and bicycles. During the colonial Dutch East Indies period {{circa|19th century}}, several street foods were developed and documented, including satay and dawet (cendol) street vendors. The current proliferation of Indonesia's vibrant street food culture is contributed by the massive urbanization in recent decades that has opened opportunities in food service sectors. This took place in the country's rapidly expanding urban agglomerations, especially in Greater Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya.{{Cite news |last=Firman |first=Tommy |date=12 May 2012 |title=Urbanization and Urban Development Patterns |language=en |work=The Jakarta Post |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/05/12/urbanization-and-urban-development-patterns.html}}

Singapore has a large number of hawker centres which evolved from the traditional commerce of street food and was incorporated into UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage on 16 December 2020.{{cite web | url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists | title=UNESCO - Browse the Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Register of good safeguarding practices }}{{cite web | url=https://www.nhb.gov.sg/what-we-do/our-work/sector-development/unesco/hawker-culture-in-singapore | title=Hawker Culture in Singapore }}

{{Tone|section|date=March 2022}}

{{main|Regional street food}}

{{See also|List of street foods}}

File:Kakilima street vendors in Jakarta.jpgs lining a street in Jakarta, Indonesia, selling street foods]]

File:Porilainen.jpg, a Finnish burger-like sandwich]]

Street food vending is found all around the world and varies greatly between regions and cultures.

Dorling Kindersley describes the street food of Vietnam as being "fresh and lighter than many of the cuisines in the area" and "draw[ing] heavily on herbs, Chile peppers and lime," while street food of Thailand is "fiery" and "pungent with shrimp paste and fish sauce."{{Cite book |last=Kindersley |first=Dorling |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FDAt0uVU7zYC&pg=PA293 |title=Ultimate Food Journeys: The World's Best Dishes and Where to Eat Them |date=2011 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=9780756695880 |language=en}} Street food in Thailand offers a varied selection of ready-to-eat meals, snacks, fruits and drinks. The capital of Thailand, Bangkok, has been listed as one of the best places for street food.{{Cite news |last=Wiens |first=Mark |date=9 May 2011 |title=Top 16 Bangkok Street Food Sanctuaries (Are You Ready to Eat?) |language=en |work=Migrationology |url=https://migrationology.com/top-16-bangkok-street-food-sanctuaries/}}{{Cite news |date=July 31, 2012 |title=The 10 Best Street Food Cities in the World, per Virtual Tourist.Com, Frommer's |language=en |work=NY Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/10-best-street-food-cities-world-virtualtourist-frommer-article-1.1125775}} Popular street offerings in Bangkok include Pad Thai (stir fried rice noodle), green papaya salad, sour tom yum soup, Thai curries and mango sticky rice.

Indonesian street food is a diverse mix of local Indonesian, Chinese, and Dutch influences.{{Cite web |last=Jing Xuan Teng |date=3 October 2016 |title=The Best Street Food in Jakarta, Indonesia |url=http://theculturetrip.com/asia/indonesia/articles/the-best-street-food-in-jakarta-indonesia/ |website=The Culture Trip |language=en}} Indonesian street food is often strongly flavored and spicy. Much of the street food in Indonesia is fried, such as fritters, nasi goreng and ayam goreng. Bakso (meatball soup), satay (skewered chicken) and gado-gado (vegetable salad served in peanut sauce) are also popular.{{Cite web |title=Indonesian Street food |url=http://www.foodandtravel.com.au/indonesia/indonesian-street-food |website=Food & Travel}}

File:Chicken Döner in Berlin.jpg, an originally Turkish dish that found popularity in Germany]]

Indian street food is as diverse as Indian cuisine. Some of the more popular street food dishes are vada pav, misal pav, chole bhature, parathas, bhel puri, sev puri, gol gappa (also called pani puri in Karnatake and Maharashtra or puchka in West Bengal) aloo tikki, kebabs, tandoori chicken, samosas, kachori, idli, pohe, egg bhurji, pav bhaji, pulaw, pakora, lassi, kulfi and falooda. In Hindi-speaking regions of India, street food is popularly known as nukkadwala food ("corner" food). In South India, foods like mirchi bajji, punugulu, and mokkajonna (corn roasted on coal) are common street foods, along with breakfast items like idli, dosa and bonda. Other popular Asian fusion street food include gobi manchurian, momos and omelette. While some vendors streamline the recipes of popular dishes to sell them on the street, several restaurants have taken their inspiration from the street food of India.{{Cite web |title=Nukkadwala – Inspired by A Billion Foodies |url=https://www.nukkadwala.co.in/ |access-date=21 March 2018 |website=Nukkadwala}}

File:Masala Dosa 02.jpg, India]]

Falafel is a popular dish in the Middle East. Vendors sell it on street corners in Palestine, Egypt, and Syria. Another food sold commonly on the street in Egypt is ful, a slow-cooked fava bean dish.{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Heather Arndt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LghYCqDJw8C&pg=PA33 |title=Breakfast: A History |publisher=AltaMira Press |date=2013 |isbn=978-0-7591-2165-2 |location=Lanham, MD |page=33 |language=en}}

In Denmark, sausage wagons allow passers-by to purchase sausages and hot dogs.

In Turkey, chicken shawarma is widely enjoyed in wraps called dürüm, served with toum and fresh vegetables.{{cite web |title=The Ultimate Guide to Chicken Shawarma – A Flavorful Middle Eastern Delight |url=https://imthecooker.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-chicken-shawarma-a-flavorful-middle-eastern-delight/ |website=ImTheCooker |date=18 February 2025 |access-date=18 February 2025}}

In Jamaica a traditional dish is Jamaican jerk chicken. The original marinade calls for ingredients such as Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice berries and sometimes wood from laurel trees.{{Cite web |date=2018-11-29 |title=Jamaican "Jerk" Chicken Recipe |url=https://www.pepper.ph/jerk-chicken-waffle-sandwiches/ |access-date=2019-10-21 |website=Pepper |language=en |archive-date=21 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021054748/https://www.pepper.ph/jerk-chicken-waffle-sandwiches/ |url-status=dead }}File:Mont nomsod.jpg]]

Mexican street food is known as antojitos (translated as "little cravings") and features several varieties of tacos, such as tacos al pastor, as well as huaraches and other maize-based foods.

New York City's signature street food is the hot dog, but New York street food also includes everything from Middle Eastern falafel to Jamaican jerk chicken to Belgian waffles.

In Hawaii, the local street food tradition of "plate lunch" (rice, macaroni salad, and a portion of meat) was inspired by the bento of the Japanese who had been brought to Hawaii as plantation workers.

File:Messe-36.JPG]]

Because of differences in culture, social stratification, and history, the ways in which family street vendor enterprises are traditionally created and run vary in different areas of the world.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qFfG2bL-w9gC&pg=PA164 |title=Women, the Family, and Policy: A Global Perspective |date=1994 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=9780791417850 |editor-last=Chow |editor-first=Esther Ngan-Ling |language=en |author-link=Esther Ngan-ling Chow |editor-last2=Berheide |editor-first2=Catherine White}} Often, women's success in the street food market depends on trends of gender equality. This is evidenced in Bangladesh, where few women are street vendors. However, in Nigeria and Thailand, women dominate the street food trade.{{Cite book |last=Tinker |first=Irene |url=https://archive.org/details/streetfoodsurban0000tink |title=Street Foods: Urban Food and Employment in Developing Countries |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195104356 |language=en |url-access=registration}}

Doreen Fernandez says Filipino cultural attitudes towards meals affect the street food phenomenon in the Philippines, because eating street food outside does not conflict with eating at one's house, which typically lacks dedicated eating rooms.

Other cultural phenomena that affect the street food market include the cultural implications of eating while walking down the street. In some cultures, this is considered to be rude,{{Cite book |last1=Knox |first1=Dan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9u8n2LTlUuAC&pg=PA88 |title=Understanding Tourism: A Critical Introduction |last2=Hannam |first2=Kevin |date=2010 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=9781412922784 |language=en}} such as Japanese{{Cite book |last1=Ashkenazi |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ley_r5VldNUC&pg=PA127 |title=Food Culture in Japan |last2=Jacob |first2=Jeanne |date=2003 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=9780313324383 |language=en}} or Swahili cultures. Despite not being allowed for adults, it is culturally acceptable for children to do.{{Cite book |last=Albala |first=Ken |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG1H75z0EYYC&pg=RA2-PA200 |title=Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia |date=2011 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=9780313376276 |pages=2– |language=en}} In India, Henrike Donner wrote about a "marked distinction between food that could be eaten outside, especially by women," and the food prepared and eaten at home, with some non-Indian food being too "strange" or tied too closely to non-vegetarian preparation methods to be made at home.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZAj193Iwv8C&pg=PA71 |title=Being Middle-Class in India: A Way of Life |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415671675 |editor-last=Donner |editor-first=Henrike |language=en}}

In Tanzania's Dar es Salaam region, street food vendors produce economic benefits beyond their families. Because street food vendors purchase local fresh foods, urban gardens and small-scale farms in the area have expanded.{{Cite book |last=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggBcejopzyYC&pg=PA242 |title=Globalization of Food Systems in Developing Countries: Impact on Food Security and Nutrition |date=2004 |isbn=9789251052280 |language=en}} In the United States, street food vendors are credited with supporting New York City's rapid growth by supplying meals for the city's merchants and workers.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4CLQB98un8C&pg=PA2 |title=Start Your Own Food Truck Business |date=2011 |publisher=Entrepreneur Press |isbn=9781613081143 |language=en}} Proprietors of street food in the United States have had a goal of upward mobility, moving from selling on the street to their own shops.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoWlCmNDA3QC&pg=PT594 |title=The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195307962 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Andrew F. |language=en}} However, in Mexico, an increase in street vendors has been seen as a sign of deteriorating economic conditions in which food vending is the only employment opportunity that unskilled labor who have migrated from rural areas to urban areas are able to find.

In 2002, Coca-Cola reported that China, India, and Nigeria, where the company's expansion efforts included training and equipping mobile street vendors to sell its products, were some of their fastest-growing markets.

The libertarian Reason magazine states that in US cities, food trucks are subject to regulations designed to prevent them from competing with brick and mortar restaurants. For example, in Chicago, a regulation prevents food trucks "...from selling food within 200 feet of brick-and-mortar restaurants and, hence, prohibit them from operating throughout the city's downtown area," which critics have called an "anti-competitive" rule for food truck operators.{{Cite web |last=Linnekin |first=Baylen |date=3 March 2018 |title=Food Trucks Still Under Attack from Regulators |url=https://reason.com/2018/03/03/food-trucks-still-under-attack-from-regu/ |access-date=3 August 2019 |website=Reason |language=en}}

Since 1984, Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco is home of one of the most diverse street food fairs.{{Cite book |last=Rababy |first=Michael |title=Folsom Street Food Court |date=2018 |publisher=Delancey Street Press |isbn=978-0692183731 |pages=64 |language=en}} In addition to much leather, and people in various states of dress and undress, the event features an outdoor food court serving a variety of street food. For donations of $10 or more, visitors get a $2 discount on each drink purchased at the fair. In 2018, the street photographer Michael Rababy documented it in his book, Folsom Street Food Court.{{Cite web |last=Bull |first=Chris |date=2018-09-26 |title=Photos: Folsom Street Fair May Be All About the Hot Guys, but Don't Forget the Street Food |url=https://www.gaycities.com/outthere/40283/photos-folsom-street-fair-may-hot-guys-dont-forget-street-food/ |access-date=2020-04-10 |website=GayCities Blog |language=en}}

Netflix has also featured the street foods of the world through its TV series Street Food, with the first volume focusing on Asia, and the second on Latin America.{{Cite web |last=Wilkinson |first=Alissa |title=Netflix's Wonderful Street Food Focuses on the Human Aspect of Ordinary Food |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/27/18144738/street-food-netflix-streaming-competitive |access-date=9 September 2020 |website=Vox |date=27 April 2019 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Cortez |first=Mario A. |title='Street Food: Latin America' Is a Mouth-Watering, Welcome Escape |url=https://remezcla.com/features/film/review-street-food-latin-america-netflix/ |access-date=9 September 2020 |website=Remezcla |date=24 July 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=John |date=16 July 2020 |title='Street Food: Latin America' Review: A Platter of Vicarious Delights |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/street-food-latin-america-review-a-platter-of-vicarious-delights-11594931655 |access-date=9 September 2020 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en}}

With the rise of plant-based diets and concerns over food safety, some cities have introduced specific regulations for vegan street food vendors to ensure proper handling of alternative ingredients. Studies indicate that while plant-based street food reduces the risk of contamination from raw meat, improper storage of perishable ingredients such as tofu, plant-based dairy, and fresh vegetables can still pose health risks.{{Cite report |last=Food Standards Australia New Zealand |title=Food Safety Guidelines for Plant-Based Foods |date=2021 |url=https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/Pages/food-safety-plant-based.aspx |language=en |access-date=10 March 2025}} Some governments have implemented training programs for street vendors to educate them on plant-based food safety practices, refrigeration requirements, and allergen cross-contamination.{{Cite report |last=World Health Organization |title=Street Food Safety Regulations and Plant-Based Diets |date=2022 |url=https://www.who.int/publications/plant-based-street-food |language=en |access-date=10 March 2025}}

As early as the 14th century, government officials oversaw street food vendor activities. With the increasing pace of globalization and tourism, 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.{{Cite thesis |last=Mukhola |first=Murembiwa Stanley |title=Guidelines for an Environmental Education Training Programme for Street Food Vendors in Polokwane City |date=2006 |degree=D. Ed. |publisher=University of Johannesburg |hdl=10210/1181 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1181 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last1=Lues |first1=Jan F. R. |last2=Rasephei |first2=M. R. |last3=Venter |first3=P. |last4=Theron |first4=M. M. |date=2006 |title=Assessing Food Safety and Associated Food Handling Practices in Street Food Vending |journal=International Journal of Environmental Health Research |language=en |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=319–328 |doi=10.1080/09603120600869141 |pmid=16990173 |bibcode=2006IJEHR..16..319L |s2cid=27054452}}{{Citation |last=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |title=The Informal Food Sector: Municipal Support Policies for Operators |date=2003 |url=http://www.fao.org/3/a-y4312e.pdf |postscript=. |language=en |access-date=20 June 2019}} However, despite concerns about contamination at street food vendors, the incidence of such is low, with studies showing rates comparable to restaurants.{{Cite book |last=Etkin |first=Nina L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNYuUcOKKmcC |title=Foods of Association: Biocultural Perspectives on Foods and Beverages that Mediate Sociability |date=2009 |publisher=The University of Arizona Press |isbn=9780816527779 |language=en}}

In Singapore, street food vendors known as "hawkers", over half of which were unlicensed, were considered "primarily a nuisance to be removed from the streets".{{Cite web|url=https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/hawker-centres-the-view-from-above/story|title = Hawker Centres: The View from Above}} 113 hawker centers were constructed between 1971 and 1986 to remove hawkers from the streets while preserving the food culture.

In 2002, a sampling of 511 street foods in Ghana by the World Health Organization showed that most had microbial counts within the accepted limits,{{Cite book |last=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggBcejopzyYC&pg=PA11 |title=Globalization of Food Systems in Developing Countries: Impact on Food Security and Nutrition |date=2004 | publisher=Food & Agriculture Org. |isbn=9789251052280 |language=en}} and a different sampling of 15 street foods in Calcutta showed that they were "nutritionally well balanced", providing roughly 200 kcal (Cal) of energy per rupee of cost.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwVl22fXkC&pg=PA53 |title=Street Foods |publisher=Karger |date=2000 |isbn=9783805569279 |editor-last=Simopoulos |editor-first=A. P. |language=en |editor-last2=Bhat |editor-first2=R. V.}}

In the United Kingdom, the Food Standards Agency has provided comprehensive guidance of food safety for the vendors, traders and retailers of the street food sector since 2000.{{Cite web |last=Food Standards Agency |title=Safer Food, Better Business |url=http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/regulation/hygleg/hyglegresources/sfbb/ |access-date=24 November 2007 |language=en}} Other effective ways of enhancing the safety of street foods include: mystery shopping programs, training, rewarding programs to vendors, regulatory governing and membership management programs, and technical testing programs.{{Cite web |title=Retailers Support Program |url=http://www.sydneymarkets.com.au/b-retailers_support.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829190454/http://www.sydneymarkets.com.au/b-retailers_support.php |archive-date=29 August 2007 |access-date=25 November 2007 |website=Sydney Markets |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Food Safety Supervisor Course |url=http://www.qvm.com.au/cooking_class.php?id=107 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012084528/http://www.qvm.com.au/cooking_class.php?id=107 |archive-date=12 October 2007 |access-date=25 November 2007 |website=Queen Victoria Market |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Producer Rules and Regulations |url=http://www.chicagogreencitymarket.org/farmer_rules_public.asp |access-date=25 November 2007 |website=Green City Market |language=en |archive-date=13 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513005615/http://www.chicagogreencitymarket.org/farmer_rules_public.asp |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |title=How To Become A Stallholder |url=http://www.asfm.org.au/26.0.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121130135237/http://www.asfm.org.au/26.0.html |archive-date=30 November 2012 |access-date=27 November 2007 |website=Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers Market |language=en}}{{Cite magazine |date=June 2004 |title=Chemical Residue and Microbial Testing Program for Australia's Fresh Produce Industry |url=http://www.brisbanemarkets.com.au/files/BMA%20Fresh%20Source%20June%20Web.pdf |magazine=Fresh Source |language=en |publisher=Brisbane Markets |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829012453/http://www.brisbanemarkets.com.au/files/BMA%20Fresh%20Source%20June%20Web.pdf |archive-date=29 August 2007 |access-date=27 November 2007}}

In India, the government recognized the fundamental rights of the street food vendors and have imposed reasonable restrictions. And in 2006, the India legislature enacted the Food Safety and Standards Act to monitor the quality of food.{{Cite journal |last=Gaur |first=Rathna Malhotra |date=2021 |title=Clean Food Program for the Street Food Vendors in India |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/effl2021&id=347&div=&collection= |journal=European Food and Feed Law Review (EFFL) |volume=16 |pages=309}}

Despite knowledge of the risk factors, actual harm to consumers’ health is yet to be fully proven and understood. Due to difficulties in tracking cases and the lack of disease-reporting systems, follow-up studies proving actual connections between street food consumption and food-borne diseases are still very few. Little attention has been devoted to consumers and their eating habits, behaviors and awareness. The fact that social and geographical origins largely determine consumers’ physiological adaptation and reaction to foods—whether contaminated or not—is neglected in the literature.{{Cite book |last=Marras |first=S. R. |title=Street Food: Culture, Economy, Health and Governance |publisher=Routledge |date=2014 |editor-last=Cardoso |editor-first=R. |pages=15–45 |language=en |chapter=Comparative Analysis of Legislative Approaches to Street Food in South American Metropolises |editor-last2=Companion |editor-first2=M. |editor-last3=Marras |editor-first3=S.}}

In the late 1990s, the United Nations and other organizations began to recognize that street vendors had been an underused method of delivering fortified foods to populations, and in 2007, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization recommended considering methods of adding nutrients and supplements to street foods that are commonly consumed by the particular culture.

{{Portal|Society|Food}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• List of street foods
• List of snack foods
• Snack food
• Pakistani food streets
• Street market
• Catering
• Mobile catering
• Food truck
• Yatai
• Pojangmacha
• Ice cream van
• Dude food

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Street food|lcfirst=yes}}
• {{Wikivoyage-inline}}

{{Clear}}

{{Street food}}

{{Fast food}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Articles containing video clips