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Think I'm Not American? Pass the Hamburgers.
purkinje writes "Immigrants and their children may choose to eat American food as a way to fit in, a new study found, which may help explain why immigrants catch up to the country's obesity levels in 15 years. The researchers cast doubt on some subjects' Americanness, asking if they spoke English or saying they had to be American to participate; this provokes what psychologists call stereotype threat, the fear you'll confirm negative stereotypes about your group. White participants weren't affected by these comments, but Asian-American participants were more likely to list quintessentially American foods — burgers, BLTs, mac and cheese — as their favorites when the researchers called their status as American into question. They were also more likely to order and eat those dishes, consuming an average of 182 more calories than their non-threatened counterparts."
eat their fatty foods! =)
You got the touch!
...mac & cheese!
(Canadian living in America)
Chances are we get a H1N1 visa...
They eat that for convenience and price, just like the rest of us.
and getting fat beca it. Do most Americans eat that kind of food? I rarely do.
Ironically, the Hamburger is from Hamburg. It's a German meal.
Most, if not all, cultures on this planet use food as a method of identity. If you went to China or Japan or France and still only sought out American-style food, you would likely be outcast. It's the same in America... especially for children! What recent immigrant children have to endure in the realm of food-mockery is genuine. /remembers bringing tamales to school in elementary school //remembers watching my Chinese friend bring dried fish and rice. ///kids are horrible and get away with it.
Research indicates that Asian-American SAT scores drop in the third generation and drop-out rates catch up with the rest of the population by the fifth. Following the lowering of ambitions from 'medical school' to 'minimum wage cashier at Walmart' in seventh-generation Asian-Americans, assimilation is deemed complete.
Pizza is from Naples
Anyone who doesn't want that burger isn't un-American. They're inhuman.
Perhaps they order American food for the novelty factor ? If I eat Sushi/IndianFood/EthnicFood at home everyday, then I might pick a Burger at a restaurant.
It may not be nutritious, but it sure tastes good. I recently worked with some vendors from the UK, and they said their favorite part of America was the food. I imagine that when you only have it occasionally, the ingredients don't really matter that much to you. (Of course, this was food at nicer sit-down restaurants, not fast food.)
Und warum glaubt deise Leute daß Hamburger Hackfleisch besonders Amerikanisch ist? Meine deutschen Vorfahren würden etwas über das zu sagen.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Never have eaten a burger, BLT or mac and cheese
Food is a great shibboleth, because it's completely ubiquitous within social groups but very different between them.
I moved to an upscale part of the south of England recently from a northern city. So far every time I meet anyone else who is from a similar background we will more often than not end up going to a chippy (incidentally, the only one in the entire city, back home I had 3 within 5 minutes of me). For anyone not familiar with a true northern fish and chips, there's a reason it's not served at any Michelin starred restaurants.
It sounds like they're behind the curve. 3rd generation Americans like myself are just trying to eat better, not "American". There are few ethnic dishes that my parents continued to make, and none that I make myself--but I'm certainly not ashamed of them. If I had the time and enough people in my family to eat it, I'd happily make a pot of stuffed cabbage on a regular basis. Why should anybody be ashamed of that? It's so... Un-American!
Is still fish and Chips, though I will eat a burger(without the tomato) and fries.
Preferably not Mcd's
BTW I have been here for nearly 9 years and a citizen for 3
I can't come up with 1 U.S dish, name one? When someone tells me about one I almost always trace it back to some european country.
When an animal is threatened, it seems to make sense for it to take in extra calories, if they're available, that it can use for fight or flight. Only so many extra, or it will just want to lie down and snooze, but nature isn't usually so generous with calories for evolution to take that into account. Of course, the choice of the form those calories comes in does seem to be specific to the threat.
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
You know you're living in paradise when this is news.
When McDonald’s opened in Moscow (1990), many patrons were pleased with the _quality_ of the food.
In the first 6 books of the Aeneid (often read in 4th year Latin in high school), it's foretold that Aeneas and his followers would someday be so hungry, they would eat their plates. Then later, in the second 6 books (more likely to be read in college Latin courses), their plates were all smashed, so they hit on the idea of cooking their food on dough and eating everything that way. Aeneas' son Julus, who was too young to know of the prophecy, remarked "Hey look everyone! We're eating our plates!" But everyone older didn't laugh. They remembered the prophecy and were amazed at the innocent wisdom of Divus Julus.
Don't let anyone tell you that the pizza was invented in this town or that, or at this pizzaria or that one. They're just claiming credit for what was actually a traditional dish (literally) that had been around since antiquity.
We have a very diverse group here at work. Probably about a dozen different nationalities, but the cultural divide is pretty much split along two axes:
Ominvore/Vegetarian
Drinkers/Non-Drinkers
If you make a 2x2 grid and populate it with people based on their eating and drinking habits, you'd find that members of each group don't interact much with those outside their group. And if they do, it's much more likely to be from a neighboring cell on the grid than from opposite corner
I've lived for periods of time in several asian countries. I was surprised with how some nations' people thought about food. Many times they just assumed that only their people could consume it, and that other peoples, particularly non-asian people wouldn't be able to eat it... or would get sick because their bodies were different and couldn't handle it.
For me, growing up in California, I eat everything. So for me, it's just delicious food. Often when I go to meet friends' friends or families for the first time, many would be really concerned about meeting me since "I wouldn't be able to eat", or it might make my body sick. Of course, they were always delighted to find out that I could eat their food - often better then themselves - and from that point on I was never "American"... I was one of them. The exception would be some restauranteers. Some of them would just see me as a weird American... the 'exception' to the norm.
In many countries being able to share a meal with another person is a sign of community, of belonging. It's both intimate and social. The funny thing here, though, is I bet many of the immigrants in America rarely eat with Americans... more likely they don't want to integrate with Americans, but want to look like they do.
When I started caring about my diet and wanting to improve my health, I found myself eating a lot of "Asian" and "Middle Eastern" types of food. I was a vegetarian for a while, but have since started eating meat again. The idea of trying to make vegetarian equivalents of traditional American foods often leads to some not so great results. On the other hand, there are other cultures that eat primarily vegetarian diets and have been doing so for generations. Not surprisingly, their food tastes great despite not having any meat in it.
and easily available.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Most of them are american too. They born in american contiente.
Jules: Mmm-mmmm. That is a tasty burger. Vincent, ever have a Big Kahuna Burger?
[Vincent shakes his head]
Jules: Wanna bite? They're real tasty.
Vincent: Ain't hungry.
Jules: Well, if you like burgers give 'em a try sometime. I can't usually get 'em myself because my girlfriend's a vegitarian which pretty much makes me a vegitarian. But I do love the taste of a good burger. Mm-mm-mm. You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France?
Brett: No.
Jules: Tell 'em, Vincent.
Vincent: A Royale with cheese.
Jules: A Royale with cheese! You know why they call it that?
Brett: Because of the metric system?
Jules: Check out the big brain on Brett! You're a smart motherf*cker.
I've eaten many tings from many countries, but natto is the one thing that I just couldn't stomach.
There is a much better explanation -- immigrants would not expect that food as unhealthy as this would be allowed to be sold in the first place.
This also explains why foreign countries seem to have more corrupt governments -- in US all corruption is at the very top, and is perfectly legal.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
"In this country (America) you people throw away better food that I ate in mine" --A Sikh I met.
Good people, dry sense of humor. Work way too damn hard (complement).
Don't touch the knife.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
the movie makers are Japanese
Some people like various genres of anime. You're making Hell look good.
the musicians are Swedish
Did the Amiga demoscene musicians go to Hell? You're making Hell look good.
The problem is not so much in the food itself, but in the perception that most people eat most of their meals at restaurants (fast food or otherwise.) But that's not really the case. Most people eat most of their meals at home. And with that, there's not one single American diet. The American diet is not so very different from the European diet, when you try to find the differences.
I'm also having problems with the premise that Americans have some kind of unique disposition for obesity. I've seen fat people in every country I've visited. The real shocker was the obese Italians in Rome. I didn't realize they existed.
It doesn't sound like they are trying to fit in with just any Americans, but instead want to fit in with the potential majority who eat unhealthy food. It is much unhealthier, and probably wouldn't have worse effect, than getting a big flag to wave around.
Even I don't eat American food. The "All American Diet" always seemed like a awkward social stigma and the food, in fact, looks toxic.
There's no big mystery as to why immigrants would turn to hamburgers. They are quick, cheap, and taste damn good. Mystery solved. Sometimes it's just not necessary to read more into something than is really there.
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The brains of a chicken, coupled with the claws of two eagles, may well hatch the eggs of our destruction.
Ever since I was a kid, I've loved Mexican and Chinese and Italian food.
Sure, I like burgers, but you say "spaghetti" or "tacos" or "kung pao" to a kid and you're getting whoops of joy. Even if it's shitty school cafeteria renditions of them.
Kids are eating burgers because it's different from what they get at home every day and they like it. End of stupid story.
Now can we get on with pointing out the inherent bigotry of constantly questioning the validity of immigration?
I'm asian-american and if I filled out that form I'd be putting down hamburgers, mac and cheese, chicken pot pie, etc. down as well. Why? Because they're damn tasty that's why. I grew up eating both Chinese food and American food and in terms of which is my favorite well... My body likes calories. I don't like american culture more than anyone else, but how can you hate on ooey-gooey mac and cheese? It's pretty simple.
Strange... I'm an American and I wasn't overweight when I was in the U.S., eating hamburgers and things... It was when I went to India for ten years, eating rich, greasy Indian foods that I ballooned out till I can't bend down to tie my shoe laces without huffing and puffing and being out of breath...
Now that I'm back in the U.S. again and eating a fairly typical American diet, I'm finally losing some of that excess poundage...
Pretty sure this idea of "eating local to fit in" is a common factor with immigrants anywhere. Matches my experience and that of my friends who are also transplants.
I actually started eating vegetarian because it was an easy way to steer clear of fast food. At the end of a long hard day it's tough to say no, especially since I don't drink...
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Immigrants and their children may choose to eat American food as a way to fit in,
Many immigrants are poor, McDonald's is cheap.
Dear friends on Slashdot. All cultures past and present are a product of diversity. All notions of cultural purity are fantasy. That being said, I'm a US citizen, and I'll eat whatever the hell I want and speak whatever language I feel like. Thx
White people have the right to have their own countries.
Anybody care to disagree?
So, when will all white people be repatriating back to Europe??? Thought so.
You need a 2x2 grid to work out that people with things in common congregate? Especially when it comes to food and drink at lunch time???
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Your mission is to recruit a bunch of people, split them in two groups, and be a complete dick to half of them, just to see what they do!
I live in Japan. Everybody who knows me knows that my favorite food is daifuku (sticky mochi rice with a sweet been filling). I practically yell it from the rooftops. Why? It really helps to fit in. Someone will say something like, "Let's go to the onsen (public bath)" and somebody who doesn't know me will ask, "Is he OK with the onsen". Finally another of my friends will say, "He's Japanese! He eats daifuku." Everybody will laugh and off we go to the onsen.
Because this country is so homogenous, looking different and sounding different (I still talk like a child with my lousy Japanese) makes everyone worry about you. But magically if you like the cultural food everyone is willing to overlook your differences. The US and Japan are similar in this way. While the US has people with a lot of different backgrounds, a lot is made of the great American "melting pot". There is a strong American culture and people tend to be a bit suspicious of you if they think you might not fit in. I'm sure making a big deal of liking American food helps immigrants a lot, just like it does me in Japan.
For the record, I'm a Chilean immigrant with 10 years in Silicon Valley, having visited about 28 countries and lived in 4, and I'm also a foodie.
Just based on the demographics they chose for the study, it seems to me that this particular group is still very susceptible to peer pressure. In my personal experience having a lot of Asian-American and purely Asian colleagues as well as friends in every place in the world, I have to say that when an individual no longer has the pressure to "fit" in a specific environment, and their cultural differences are just accepted by their peers, they tend to choose whatever they like, some things Asian and some things American.
Thinking people, in the right [accepting] environment, and at the right age (past the age where they are more susceptible to peer pressure) tend to develop a stronger sense of self, in many cases, becoming a trans-national, where the place where you were born no longer defines you, but you choose how to define yourself. Don't underestimate the fact that people, individuals, do grow up, change and adapt.
Food in itself is one of those amazing things that tends to mark how we see the world, and yet, once you are exposed to many different cultures, it is just natural to learn to appreciate everything and everyone. Food is one of those rare things that can unite us more than divide us.
As an Englishman who's spent the last decade in the States...
It has nothing to do with my trying to fit in and everything to do with what I can get for a decent price at a decent quality.
If I'd like Shepherd's Pie, my options are very expensive faux Irish theme pubs or lousy quality from cheap theme pubs that have once seen a picture of what a Shepherd's Pie might look like. If I'd like a proper roast with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, I can go to a senior citizen trap and get decent beef, terrible fried potatoes and a look of bewilderment if I mention Yorkshire pudding. If I want a good curry (Partition and its immigrants have made it a staple in England), I can get something dire at the mall, something mediocre in my city (thank you H1Bs) but I have to (and do, regularly) drive 80 miles each way and pay about $50/person to get great baltis, kormas, etc.
Or, if I'd like pizza, I can choose from any of a dozen local pizza joints. If I'd like a burger, I can choose from any of twenty chains plus local specialty places. And Mexican offers me hundreds of hole in the wall places plus at least half a dozen major chains. I can eat at every one of those for well under $10 too.
So, yes, I eat like an American and my waist rapidly started to look like an American's too. It has nothing to do with trying to fit in and everything to do with what's available. Give me a Sainsbury's and a Tesco, a good chippy (no, those things Americans call English pub chips really aren't), a good kebab shop (gyros may start with the same ingredients but are nothing like a British kebab) and a lifetime's supply of Cadbury's, Ginsters, etc. and I'll stay the hell away from American assimilation.
I don't think it's even a national thing. Ask any Californian who'd visited what Mexican food is like in Minnesota (not unlike eating a photograph of a burrito: it looks like one but tastes like cardboard). Ask any Pennsylvanian what a cheesesteak is like in California (for the love of God, why would you put avocado and lettuce in it?). Those people will also assimilate to the good local foods rather than endure the terrible bastardizations of what they love back home. Nothing to do with fitting in, everything to do with availability.
If only there was some common saying about correllation not being equal to causation.
And now you may all proceed with the English food and dentistry jokes. You've been very patient.
whether you can enjoy root beer and twizzlers. After nearly 20 years in the US, I can eat almost anything, but why would anybody drink cough medicine and chew on tasteless bits of red plastic totally escapes me.
AccountKiller
Funny, as a born and raised white American, I rarely eat American food. I probably eat primarily Italian and Middle-Eastern style food with Mexican a large part as well. I also eat Japanese and Chinese food on occasion. To me the most American diet should be multi-cultural like this, not focused on fatty-ass cheap burgers.
Northern European, 120 years? So what, are you a Swede or first-wave Pole then? We're all mutts here after a few generations, even though some of us harken back to Ichibods who came over in the mid-late 1600s.
Watch Fast Food Nation 2006. If you eat fast food then you are stupid.
Recipes for USA bankrupt - http://tinypaste.com/0d66f dd = dollar deluge (printed in the infinity)
It's amazing how often you see this three orders of magnitude off quoting of calories in the media.
Perhaps it is time to change our units?
So you pressure people in a study to prove your hypothesis? Good job.
Also, as others have said, it's a tad easier to eat local food than getting your fried lion testecles, or whatever. I'll make sure I ask for a 'double down' on Mars. I'm sure they'll have it.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
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Would be better if they'd drive like Americans instead.
The "good" natto is stringy. The stuff I had wasn't vinegary at all, it simply tasted like someone had left pork and beans in the fridge during the New Orleans floods and then gone back and tried to eat them the next year.
Wait -- you can get good Yorkshire pudding in the UK? Where? Recommendations wanted...
Signed, an American who has only ever had homemade (delicious) Yorkshire pudding
You mean "Eurabia", don't you?