Response to Chase's Food blog 11/29

I'm with you... eating is one of my favorite parts of traveling, if not my absolute favorite. And more so, the street food in particular. It gives you a feel for the local spices and flavors, all the while being nice to the pocket book. I still remember many of the street food meals I have had while traveling, they have been some of the best.

Part of becoming a tourist destination is ensuring that your guests will be able to eat without getting sick. Stomach problems while traveling are the fastest way to ruin your trip. I can't believe I am writing this because I am usually so against standardization and generic products. However, safe and more expensive street food is a sure fire way to make sure that people can enjoy the flavors of the place they are traveling to and enjoy the scenery of the place they are traveling to, instead of enjoying the hotel room bathroom of the place they are traveling to. Maybe it does affect the cultural mom-and-pop feel, however without it tourism won't thrive. Tourism creates a ton of revenue and can help increase the GDP. Most other tourist destinations have done the same thing with their food.

Hopefully, offering some sort of clean, standardized street food doesn't mean that traditional street food will disappear. Locals will still eat at traditional places, and visitors who are feeling adventurous can too. But creating a middle ground seems like a good step towards sanitation and a good place for entrepreneurs to create a niche market.