Ah, the finer things in life. Or maybe not. So here’s my rant. A local grocery store is having a special on all things American starting next week.
Sadly, one look at the specials listed on their advertisement the impression is clear: American cuisine equals junk food.
Germany’s image of a typical American’s diet is a hard but overstretched reality: Millions of Americans starting their days off with either donuts, muffins, bagels or pancakes and sometime within the week hot dogs, hamburger buns, popcorn shrimp and platefuls of barbecue spare-ribs will be consumed.
But the hunger doesn’t stop there. We’ll gorge on american pizza and sandwich pickles, guzzle down blueberry and cranberry juice, and we aren’t ashamed to dip our grubby index fingers into an open jar of peanut butter and once our digits are clean we’ll lean back and smack our lips together in sugary nirvana.
But of course, you couldn’t let us forget the American all-time diabetic favorites: jelly beans, marshmallows and brownies.
It really is all too much. Behind every unhealthy and poor, nutritionally valued food substance you smugly decorate it with the American flag as if to say, “This wasn’t our idea.” I’m half embarrassed. Sugary items, refined grains, starchy and sodium polluted snacks: Is this what America really has to offer to the world? Or is this what you really sarcastically think America has to offer?
Okay, so maybe it’s true we eat individually almost 300 tortillas and 23 pounds of pizza per year*. We know these junk foods, those you want to sell so badly here, are bad for us, for you, for everyone. But this food is in the US, we developed it and now it’s an addictions we have to deal with. So I’m baffled. Why, Germany, with the negative stigma these food carry, why would you feed this food to yourselves?
Okay. I’ll give you some credit. I myself am having a hard time thinking up of typical or commonly known American foods that would be consider mildly healthy. How ’bout them tortillas? Or pecans and cashews? It’s not on your list, but how about soybeans?
Yet, I forgive Aldi. Germany may have a weakness for life’s seductions. Who can fault them or us? And anyone who believes scones are American is clearly confused.
Yes, when I lived in Germany I simply never dared to ask for ketchup because I got that LOOK that said “Oh poor girl is American!”
More than 20 years ago my school in Germany took part in a students exchange program. I spent a wonderful time in a family in Virginia and was glad to enjoy good home made dishes from my guest mom. Slightly different from what I was used to but only in terms of taste and recepies. I hated root beer and missed Nutella. That was all. I couldn´t tell a typical American dish and I couldn´t tell a typical German dish either. Doesn´t it depend on the region you live in?
If an American grocery store held a German food sale, the stuff that would appear wouldn’t be all that healthy, either, I’d imagine…
The most hurtful insults are the ones you really can’t completely refute. I muse about this here: http://www.regensblog.com/2006/02/21/perception-is-reality/
I agree . I live in Germany now and when I first moved here I noticed the same and also how expensive everyday stuff is. I am a NYER so I guess bagels with tofu cream cheese and things like soy meat are out of the question I lived in a caribean neighborhod in Harlem and used to get soy everything from the local rasta spots
All’s fair in the end, I suppose, since Americans think Germans take in nothing but sausage, strudel, and beer! I can’t believe all the comments I always get about it when I go to the States.
@Maribeth: Ketchup in Germany is mainstream now. A German friend of ours had a crisper section full of Heinz 57 sauces I’d never new existed.
@Ingo: That would have been cool if you could market regional foods from the US in Germany: i.e. Louisiana po’ boys, Philly cheesesteaks, sweet potato pies, New England clam chowder, Tex-Mex..
@Jul: Good point. In Florida, I found only sweets and meats from Germany.
@Cliff: Nice post. Stereotypes, although the may represent some truth in part, still only breed ignoramuses .. That’s what pisses me off. *sniff* Now where’s my donut
@Kevin: Sorry to hear about that. I’m lucky in that I live in a city where there is a good population of vegetarians. Munich meets the demand for more diverse products, definitely a plus!
@Camilla: Absolutely. Hard to admit, way before I moved out of the States, I lived in my own ignorant bubble and thought the same. It definitely gets old trying to strip ourselves out of these out-dated simplifications, even if a few exceptions still fit. We all need to allow change in life.
Most people here in Australia, and I daresay, the US, think that German’s have a diet of Sauerkraut and pig trotters and that the food overall is very stodgy. Fortunately, alot of people have travelled extensively overseas these days and realise that most Germans and North Americans eat healthy diets.
One of the supermarkets in Britain had this whole line of American-style food. Not only were none of them even vaguely similar to their American counterparts but there were some things I had never seen in the States. Madness.
Enjoy anyway!
I am living in Germany for a 2 yr work contract and I find the cafeteria food that is served (no alternate choices) is very high in fat and calories. And it is often served with sauerkraut or beets, and there are many, many meals with fries. And I have also noticed that people eat more sausages here (before I came I thought this was just a myth). And beer is cheaper than water (yes, you have to pay for water).
I don’t think this advertisement was trying to insult USA food or imply anything. If you went to the US and found a German food sale you would probably find sausages, beer, sauerkraut, pretzels, and chocolate cake.
Hey, I missed your last few blog entries. I too would’ve been slightly freaked in a pitch black hallway with locked doors. Shining? Oh, so many others come to mind.
Your bike ride seemed beautiful. I miss being outside.
And regarding junk food, I guess every culture has it’s own. Like when I go to oriental or latin markets, I know they have more to offer than deep fried croquettas or shrimp flavored chips. Maybe the fresh produce and exotic meats are too expensive to export compared to bagged and frozen goodies?
@Linda: ew, pig trotters.. sounds revolting! Although, I like your optimism in that travelers can see beyond the garbage food.
@Chris in Happy Valley: Exactly, what happens here! It’s so disappointing. So now: what junk food I eat in the U.S., stays in the U.S. Unless, it ends up being shipped to me..
@Kat: Even if America sells German ‘junk food’, two wrongs don’t make a right. When Aldi advertises an Italian, Greek, or Chinese special, it isn’t littered with regional junk food (or maybe?) Normally, it’s refreshing to go to Aldi because there isn’t a lot of junk food (that I’m addicted to) that tempts the tummy.
So yes, this advertisement is offensive. It poisons the customers with poor nutrition and an embarrassing stereotype.
It’s more the rule that the majority of Kantina/ Mensa/ Cafeteria food is a plate of worthless calories. It’s cheap, easy, and feeds the mases. Sorry, your cafeteria is one of those places.
@pinger: Glad to see you back on the blog o’sphere!
True, shrimp chips are evil (devilishly yummy)!
I just don’t like the double standard I often hear in Germany: “American’s eat so unhealthy” and then sell the same crap that’s doing us in in German supermarkets. please.