Is it Really So Much Better Now?

From deep within the essay, another restatement of praise for East Asian street food culture.

  > That is because there is an abundance of inexpensive and delightful street food/casual dining establishments (carts, izakayas, takeaways, food courts, night markets, etc.), that make it a rational, and healthy, choice.

I can easily imagine that a world of unregulated food stalls can deliver food that is cheaper, more ubiquitous, and more convenient. I grew up in a version of such a world!

Is street food ever healthy, by any reasonable definition? What does a steady diet of street food do to a body?