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| McDonald's-France |
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| McDonald's-America |
One of the first times i experienced culture shock was when i went to Europe about 6 years ago. The first stop was France. Since the time difference was very large after arriving at the airport in France hunger followed the long trip. So one of the first things we did was go to get food. When we received our first taste of french cuisine something struck me that this was not quite what my fellow travelers and i expected. It was a much smaller portion than what we were used to at home. In France, their portions were much smaller depending on the time of day you are eating.Unfortunately we did not arrive at lunchtime, which is when most of the food for the day is consumed. It is amazing to see the differences between the way and types of food Americans eat compared to Europeans. In America the most common slogan is "super-size" it at McDonald's but the McDonald's in Europe had different items that i didn't see come out in America until a few years later. This leads me to believe that America is very behind in changing the style of eating compared to other evolving countries. Certain foods in America are much more unhealthier and there becomes a problem when health risks are involved. It is evident that America has a large problem with obesity that many countries; such as France which may not experience the same effect of this epidemic. I always knew that in some way the portions of food were smaller in some other cultures but as they say you cant believe until you see it!
hey,
ReplyDeleteI have visited France as well, and encountered the same thing, and though on the first day it might of been a shock through out my stay I've realized, that those portions were just great. Sipping down with some fine wine, you forget all about eating, and stir away from the "super-size" life style. We might not agree with all of the French traditions but I think we can pick up a thing or two out of their eating habits.
Hope you enjoyed your stay, I know I did.
-David
The American diet is wrong on soooo many levels, and portion size is one of the main things. We all need to learn how to eat less. Portions in the US are out of control! --prof K
ReplyDeleteYou're right; France's food portions won't register in my mind until I see it first hand! If I were to take a trip to France, I would have had it in the back of my mind that I would be experiencing some culture shock. However, somethign as small as a food related culture just amazes me. It's surprising how something so routine as eating can be so different in other cultures.
ReplyDeleteAnother area of comparison that is similar to the food diference is the size of the roads and cars in Europe. I'm not sure what the rational is for the smaller quantities, but if you look at SUVs here and in Europe the differences are striking as well. I guess a funny way to explain it would be to say that we have enough space in our cars and roads to afford an additional burger and fries.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that size of the portions in the fast food restaurants is really relates to the obesity. I mean, when I go to fast food I usually really hungry and I expect to see a large portion of something. I live in the states almost 4 years and I eat out all the time (very often fast food) and I don’t think I gained any weight. Although maybe I should wait and see, certainly people who were born here lived here much longer than I did. lol
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