Street food innovations

Street foods around the world often have large concentrations of fat, sugar, and sodium, low quantities of vital micronutrients, and occasional food safety concerns. These convenient, cheap, and quick items tend to exacerbate countries' levels of obesity and malnutrition. Street vendors are also often stationed outside of schools, which might place children with close proximities to street foods at a higher risk of dietary-linked diseases. Switching away from these readily-available foods requires significant behavior changes, which often only occurs with increased income and is thus a long term issue. Healthier street food alternatives are needed in order to circumvent the need for complex behavior changes and to address the burdens of obesity and micronutrient deficiencies. This innovation involves replacing nutrient-poor, unhealthy ingredients with nutrient-rich, healthier ingredients in order to increase the availability of high nutrient content foods for workers and students. Collaboration with street food vendors would be necessary to develop these healthier recipes, and partnerships with the school management committees would be necessary for the introduction of healthier alternatives in the school environment.