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."

Comments

Cultural Identification in Food

[eepok]

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.

Re:Cultural Identification in Food

[pelirojatica]

Indeed. But it turns around, for some of us. The empanadas I was teased about in elementary school are now (20+ years later) coveted by my friends. It's a good thing my mother taught me to ignore the jerks... and how to make empanadas!

Re:Cultural Identification in Food

[cyberstealth1024]

The offspring of Spaniards that committed the genocide of nearly every indigenous people on two major land masses while spreading the word of God that he loves them even as they are being tortured and murdered, who sometimes illegally emigrate to the US by sneaking across the border with Mexico, while having anchor babies (though they still love them) to secure social services and annoy white people while taking jobs they are no longer interested in (at least not for $5 an hour)

Could you imagine putting that as a demographic questionnaire on the census??

Select all that apply:
[ ] White/Caucasian
[ ] Black/African American
[ ] American Indian/Alaska Native
[ ] Asian
[ ] Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
[ ] Hispanic/Latino (legal)
[x] The offspring of Spaniards that committed the genocide of nearly every indigenous people on two major land masses while spreading the word of God that he loves them even as they are being tortured and murdered, who sometimes illegally emigrate to the US by sneaking across the border with Mexico, while having anchor babies (though they still love them) to secure social services and annoy white people while taking jobs they are no longer interested in (at least not for $5 an hour)
[ ] Other

Rtfa

[clinko]

Anyone who doesn't want that burger isn't un-American. They're inhuman.

Re:They are trying too hard to fit in

[Missing.Matter]

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.

Re:Ironically

[StikyPad]

Nice try, but the only irony is that all of those are indeed aptly named:

French Fries
For also in the 1840s, pomme frites ("fried potatoes") first appeared in Paris. Sadly, we don't know the name of the ingenious chef who first sliced the potato into long slender pieces and fried them. But they were immediately popular, and were sold on the streets of Paris by push-cart vendors.

Frites spread to America where they were called French fried potatoes. You asked how they got their name--pretty obvious, I'd say: they came from France, and they were fried potatoes, so they were called "French fried potatoes." The name was shortened to "french fries" in the 1930s. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2033/whats-the-origin-of-french-fries

Salisbury Steak

In the late 19th century, Dr. James Henry Salisbury came up with chopped beef patties to cure Civil War soldiers sufferering from "camp diarrhea." http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/groundbeefhist.htm

Pizza
Pizza is a type of bread and dish that has existed since time immemorial in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza

And for good measure:
Belgian Waffles
Vermersch started making waffles from a recipe of his wife's when living in Belgium before the outbreak of World War II. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_history_behind_the_belgian_waffle

Even the name Hamburger has its origin in Hamburg, Germany:
Hamburgers
In the late 18th century, the largest ports in Europe were in Germany. Sailors who had visited the ports of Hamburg, Germany and New York, brought this food and term "Hamburg steak" into popular usage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger#18th_and_19th_centuries

Study is Bullshit

[whong09]

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.

Availability

[nick_davison]

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.