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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."
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.
Anyone who doesn't want that burger isn't un-American. They're inhuman.
I am afraid that "most" Americans do eat that kind of food. I will, sometimes, when I'm in a real rush. But, I'd rather take the time to sit down to a meat and potato meal, sometimes rice instead of 'taters, with a veggie or two. I'm not much of a salad eater, but I'll put one away, once in awhile. I LOVE desserts - but by the time I've filled my belly with real food, there isn't much room for desserts, so my weight stays pretty stable at a mere 15 pounds over my "optimum" weight".
I will say, fast foods are addicting. The Big Mac, for instance. If I get one, I want two more. That sauce is just out of this world, I want to eat it til I burst. Sonic's french fries are the same - it's hard to stop myself placing another order once I've got the flavor in my mouth. To me, that is reason enough to avoid fast foods!
But, 30 years ago, I was addicted to Mountain Dew, too!
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
I am afraid that "most" Americans do eat that kind of food. I will, sometimes, when I'm in a real rush. But, I'd rather take the time to sit down to a meat and potato meal, sometimes rice instead of 'taters, with a veggie or two. I'm not much of a salad eater, but I'll put one away, once in awhile. I LOVE desserts - but by the time I've filled my belly with real food, there isn't much room for desserts, so my weight stays pretty stable at a mere 15 pounds over my "optimum" weight".
What a great story. Please tell us more about what you like to eat, because this was so interesting my eyes are bleeding.
That isn't because our food's amazing, it's just that the UK is the very bottom of the ladder.
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
Forget mac & cheese... give me the poutine
Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
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.
1. This was in comparison to Soviet Russia, where my grandfather who worked for 50 years as an engineer only to retire to the simple joys of waking up at 5AM to stand in the bread line.
2. I remember seeing that on the news from the other side. If memory serves, it was built as a nice sit-down restaurant or buffet, not like McDonald's here in the US.
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.
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.
You don't drink? Start immediately.