One of the latest food creations in the United States is the phenomenon known as fast food. Unlike the haute couture cuisine or the formal sit down dinner of the olden days, fast food restaurants have sprouted in and around the country. The fast food phenomenon showed a quick and consistent way to make a meal at low cost.

From the fast food joint, a new and faster means of providing low cost food has come to fore. This is in response to the individuals who do not have time to sit down in restaurants or walk up into fast food joints. Literally, these people eat while they work and the food they need must be as quick and on the go as they are. Here are the characteristics of the new tradesmen of the service called fast food to go:

Mobility. Unlike fast food restaurants, the fast food to go joints are mobile and simple stands or rolling stores providing quick, hot and filling food items for sale. Their mobility is what gives them their edge against the fast food behemoths. They can easily position themselves on any street corner and be able to hawk their goods.

Simplicity. The food offerings of the fast food to go stalls are simple preparations. Often, these are finger foods or simple sandwiches in disposable containers. The ingredients are simply prepared but since they are readily available as well as accessible for the individual on the move, the fast food on the go is well patronized.

Availability. The food offerings are staples day in and day out. There is not much variety in their menu. Due to the small space they occupy and the need for quick to prepare meals, the availability of their staple meals is given priority in these stalls.

As you can see, the fast food to go phenomenon has kept up with the dizzying pace of the working individual. What has been made available is food that is filling, easy to prepare and at low cost. Fast food to go entrepreneurs took this a step further by providing mobility to be accessible, simplicity in the food choices and consistent availability of staples truly makes this the business to go for the future.

You may think that dieting and hotdogs do not go together. Dieting is the science of losing weight through control means. Hotdogs on the other hand is one of the food items that are quick to cook, readily available and is packed with nutrients. How then can these two apparently differing concepts be mutually helpful? Here are the ways that it can be done.

Moderation. One of the keys to proper dieting is moderating food intake and increasing activity. This forces the body to burn up more reserves and thus lose weight. The hotdog, or the sandwich can be the food item you can eat as it has the caloric content and nutrients to sustain you as you moderate your food intake.

Completeness. A hotdog sandwich essentially is a complete meal in itself. It has protein because of the meat content, vitamins and minerals with its formulation, fiber because of the bread, sodium with its content and other nutrients from the veggies and garnishing. The completeness of this meal is important, as you need energy to get through the day despite being in your diet.

Activity. When you go out to your favorite hotdog stand, you would need to take a walk and then walk back to your office. You can take this time to put in more activity by taking the stairs to and from your cubicle. Walking is a low impact exercise that burns calories and this can clearly be part of your daily activities and make your hotdog sandwich your prize for the exercise.

As you can see, dieting and hotdogs can walk hand in hand. As you moderate your food intake, you need to find an alternative food item that can provide the necessary calories and nutrients for your daily needs. Hotdog sandwiches can provide this for you. Aside from that, the hotdog sandwich is a complete meal in itself as it has proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Finally, when you go out to get your meal, you add more activity when you walk to the food concessionaire. Do this everyday and you will see the changes it makes to your weight.

Hot dog carts are sure fire hits in areas where the pedestrian population is very dense. This means, there needs to be a lot of people walking near or alongside your hot dog stand to make it appealing as well as a business success. The following are some of the best places that hot dog carts can be placed that ensures their success.

Bus Stations or Train Stations. These transport hubs are where people congregate and pass through. More often than not, many would be looking to bring along snacks to help pass the time while on their travel. This is where your hot dog cart can provide quick, hot, fast food to go for these itinerant travelers.

Schools and other Educational Institutions.  Your hot dog cart would provide the best food for schools of any level. For primary and secondary institutions, hotdogs are well loved as a snack at home. In school, despite school lunches, many children would have enough money to sneak in a hot dog sandwich as a snack to get them through the day. For colleges, a hot dog sandwich is a full meal for a famished college student. Their needs for nutrition are a constant and it is in these areas you are sure to have a ready, willing and able client base for your hot dog cart.

Workplaces. There are always hungry employees when lunch time comes. It is the usual case that many mid level employees opt to have lunch in their cubicles to make up for work time. It is in these instances that your hotdog cart fare can provide the fast food to go for these office workers. On the other hand, you can locate yourself near construction sites or crosswalk corners. The sheer volume of people walking by at cross walks can surely net you a few hungry employees. At construction sites, many workers want a quick and cheap meal for their energy needs. A hot dog from your cart surely provides that treat.

As you can see, the best places to situate your hot dog cart are in places that have dense populations of people. Transport hubs like train stations or bus depots have these. Schools are also a good place with a ready market for your hot dogs. Finally, where employees are, in places near their workplace, be it white collar or blue collar work, are also havens for patrons for your hot dog cart.

The hotdog has been much maligned as a supposed junk food. It has been said that it lacks the essential vitamins and minerals that is needed to be a healthy meal during the day. This is quite the opposite as the hotdog ubiquitously provides a healthy and quick alternative as a meal when you are on the move because of the demands of the day.

The health content of hotdogs is as follows:

Meat. The major ingredient in hotdogs and sausages is meat or meat products. Admittedly, the content of hotdogs are not the choice cuts of meat, it nonetheless contains meat that has been ground and liquefied to be put in sheaths to form hotdogs. Thus the content of hotdogs is packed with the vitamins and minerals coming from well-fed animal parts.

Vitamins and Minerals. Largely as a response to the clamor made by consumer advocacy groups, hotdog formulations have been infused with vitamins and minerals to increase the health content of the food item. Nowadays, the hotdog formula includes vitamin A, B, B12, iron and other minerals to go along with the protein content of the meat product. This makes the hotdog a packed health food for your meal.

Salt. They say that sodium is something that should be avoided in meals. This is a misconception as salt and salty foods provide necessary chemicals for the individual’s bodily processes. These include regulation of body heat and healing. With a meal of hotdogs, you are able to obtain these essential salts for your body’s needs.

Fiber. When taken with bread, the hotdog is partnered with an important food source that an individual needs for energy during the day. The bread provides many of the important nutrients for the day. Add on the garnishing and other veggies and what you have is a complete meal from a fast food to go stand.

As you can see, the bad press that the hotdog has been getting has been far from the truth. The meat is full of nutrition, the formulation of the hotdog is vitamin and mineral packed, the salt and sodium content is the minimum requirement and the fiber provided in a hot dog meal completes a meal for an individual. As you can see, the health content of hotdogs has increased in the past decade and now it is one of the important sources of nutrition available from any hotdog vendor.