American obsession with food

I moved to the US as a child (over 20 years ago) and ever since then, my entire family has been battling with weight- some even obesity. Prior to our arrival, some of us were a bit chubby, but our weight as a family skyrocketed once we moved here.

Looking back on the last 20 years, I have been wondering what is the reason that most foreigners gain a lot of weight when they move to the US and I came up with several observations that have helped me maintain a healthy weight.

1. Foreigners walk (a lot). America is a huge country so we have to drive everywhere, hence we don't burn as many calories. Once I realized how sedentary my life has become, I made a decision to walk everywhere- no matter how inconvenient. (OK, I won't walk in stilettos when I'm dressed up;), but I completely changed my lifestyle and now drive only when absolutely necessary).

2. Foreigners don't eat out. Restaurants are pricey abroad so eating out is done only ocassionally. You'd be surprised to know that your favorite restaurant meal is cooked in lard, butter and all kinds of things you'd never dare to put on your plate.

3. Foreigners still cook mostly whole foods, which are cheaper and much lighter. Yes, globalization is bringing canned and boxed foods to other corners of the globe, but those who understand that quality food does not grow in a box benefit exponentially by eating fresh foods.

4. Americans are obsessed with food. We have FoodTV, Food Magazines, Gourmet Magazines, Food Emporiums, Cooking clubs, high-end kitchen gadget stores, etc. Everywhere we go we are inundated with messages about food, food preparation and the latest- the foodie lifestyle.. We spend $100's of thousnads of dollars upgrading kitchens, buying professional cookware, yet most of our cooking skills can't rival a professional chef's. Why do we need all this stuff?

In the last several years I have made a great effort to cut down on restaurant meals, I entertain at home and find that both I and my friends enjoy it more. In doing this I have noticed a trend- my friends are so obsessed with food that when we sit down to enjoy a nice dinner & wine, the topic of conversation always centers around food (latest restaurants, favorite cooking shows, kitchen gadgets and appliances, etc). When I pointed this out to them one person said: "But I thought that Europeans see mealtime as a celebration", and that's when I realized that yes in Europe mealtimes are a grand event, but the food is never the focal point--people are. We celebrate each other's company, talk about daily events (politics, culture, people), but food is rarely mentioned.

This is when I realized how different life is here. Food is such a huge industry that it has become a part of our culture. You can't escape it. It has gone beyond grocery stores and extended to everything from catalog shopping, television, even real-estate. Think what is a house is worth these days without a gourmet kitchen?

Getting over this addiction has been a huge ordeal for me and I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who sees this. I have stopped subscribing to food magazines, try to buy only whole foods, cook from scratch more oftenand I shut off the Food Channel and it really has made a huge difference.

I wonder if some of you out there have noticed the same trends in "food culture", and would be happy to hear your thoughts.

Well said. I have a friend with a B&B. Foreign guests recently stayed, and their first comment was how heavy Americans are.

I am from Australian and it seems that we are fast catching up with the US on all things food and obesity related.

The difference I used to find (20 years ago) visiting America was the portion size.  The American portion sizes are way out of control!!  Australia has caught up a lot now so there's not too much difference, except maybe in the soda serves as McDonalds.  And both of our country's ideas of what healthy eating is (as judged by what I see in our kids lunch boxes) is pretty awful!  And our ideas of what constitutes a "snack" is way too big.

I know as a female I always want to be equal to a male and as a child I had a brother 6 years older than me.  I resented him getting any larger portions than I did.  So I guess a lot of us females eat male sized portions (or is it just me?). 

IMHO, a lot of the problem is the convenience foods and not preparing and cooking foods from scratch, particularly the main meals.  Not many people cook any more, despite our gourmet kitchens, and like a previous poster said restaurants put way different foods into their dishes than what we would.  I always add on a tablespoon or more of fat when I calculate my calories for restaurants.  Still in Australia we don't eat out that much as restaurants are quite expensive (as we pay our staff very well), though the non cooking trend is increasing unfortunately.  We are becoming too busy in our lives to cook and our health is suffering.

It seems to me that each generation is accepting a new low in the level of acceptable healthiness of food and it's spiralling out of control.

Just my 2c worth.

i absolutely agree that in other countries when people sit down at mealtimes it's about enjoying each other's company. food is definitely not a focal point. and why it is such a big deal in america i have no idea. the food industry trying to advertise everywhere? maybe, i don't know.

Great post, godiva! And I definitely agree with #2. After waitressing at a local restaurant for a year, you wouldn't believe some of the things I've seen...like those breakfast sausages, for instance. Guess how they're cooked? They're thrown into the DEEP FRYER...the exact same deep fryer used to cook the fries, the chicken fingers, etc. So if you didn't know that before, now you do! And if for some reason you just have to order sausages, make sure you order them "butterflied". At least that way they can't throw them into the deep fyer ;).

I think the American portion sizes nowadays are a big part of it, and also the walking.  Eating out on its own isn't *always* bad.  I live in a major city where most people (that I know at least) eat out at least a meal a day and walk/take mass transit everywhere.  I walk around and look at people and wonder what the hell the news is talking about when they say there's an awful obesity crisis that will kill us all.  Though it does look a bit different in touristy areas...

Not everyone is obsessed with food.  And honestly plenty of people who watch cooking shows / buy fancy kitchen stuff / are enormous foodies are not the ones who are doing the other things you're complaining about.  Yeah, there's a lot of eating too much, but relishing high quality ingredients and interesting preparations of real foods?  Only tangentially related to weight gain.

The other thing you have to remember that the rest of the world is rapidly catching up to us!  I agree that we have some serious issues as a country here in the way we eat, but I also think that it's not my place to judge other people's decisions.  And a lot of the OMG EW THE FAT AMERICANS stuff I hear just strikes me as stretching for excuses to judge.  I'm guessing that looking at current trends in the rest of the world, everywhere else that's not undergoing a famine (which, by the way?  way worse) will look just like us, statically, in 10-20 years.

I agree with the OP. My daughter and I were out to dinner, at a restaurant, and 2 couples were seated at the table next to us. They all just started pouring over the menus as soon as they sat down and talking about the food. The whole meal it was all about the food, and the portions were enormous. We didn't like the food, or the atmosphere. It was one of those popular Mexican restaurants, ewwww.

We lived in Australia for 10 years, and going out there for a nice meal is a real treat. Yes, it is expensive, but you're not rushed through your meal so that someone else can sit down and be served. Restaurants here are like an assembly line. Also there is usually pleasant conversation before the menus are even opened. So much nicer, a social experience...

The food industry in the US is big business. And those big businesses export all over the world. They have many subtle marketing techniques and are all about making the food as tasty and attractive as they can at the lowest possible price.

Not saying all Americans are hogging down all the time, but there has been a shift in the last 20 or so years toward drive thru, convenience, prepackaged, and fast food. Shame really the way resources go into producing fat-laden foods rather than feeding the rest of the world.

The simple solution is don't go to bad resturants, unless you really are going to enjoy the company.  It's not that difficult.  There's plenty of places I go to where the food is either fairly healthy or not particularly healthy but so good that it's worth the indulgence once in a blue moon.

I get that there's a lot of stuff in America that's not just unhealthy - it's gross.  Hell, I refuse to eat 95% of what I see in the supermarket.  But there's unhealthy and gross foods everywhere.

Frankly, I make my own habits, eat what I want.  It is not my problem and not my benefit if other people have different preferences.  Eat what you want, where you want.  Just don't be so nationalistic and self-rightous about it.  It's attitudes like that that make healthy eating seem like the enemy.

As an aside, I've noticed that I prefer not to talk about food particularly often - it tends to happen in one of two circumstances.  Occasionally when eating somewhere truly special that brings cooking to an (albeit unhealthy) art form, but mostly when with people who I don't really have anything else to talk about with.  Everyone has to eat, and it's not as potentially offensive as religion or politics or going to the bathroom - which everyone also has to do.  I don't see it as a great terrible thing.  But then again, I don't see other people raising their risk of health issues as a great terrible thing, either.

To each his own, and if it's only my eating habits that make me a worthwhile, confident person, the rest of me has some far more serious issues.

I thought I was crazy when I considered that the American culture is obsessed with food. I feel better knowing I'm not alone.

I have to completely agree that Americans are obsessed with food...but at the same time...I don't think that necessarily has to be a bad thing.  We just need to be more concerned with moderation as well.

I absolutely love the Food Network because I love cooking and I've learned a lot from watching the shows on there.  I also LOVE food, I like cooking food, serving food, eating food, and enjoying food with family and friends....but in moderation.  I don't cook six course meal and eat it all myself.

So really, I'd have to say the problem isn't our obsession with food...the problem is our lack of moderation.

i agree with the moderation comment.  i don't understand why it's widely accepted phrases like "can't stop eating/can't give up/can't resist (random junk food)".  i've known people who can give up smoking, drugs, alcohol, ect COMPLETELY for life but can't stop themselves from eating an entire box of cookies in one sitting?

i'm not saying these people are bad or liars, i just think it's a state of mind.  i can easily eat no more than 1 or 2 bite of of junk a day or none at all, have it sit in front of me all night.  people do have a CHOICE what they put in their mouths.

I think this is being a bit harsh on Americans. My one visit certainly doesn't make me an expert but I did notice some things:

1. American cities are not set up for walking. There aren't pavements where there should be pavements. At pedestrian crossing points, the pedestrian crossing lights are on far too short: you find yourself running so that you don't get caught in the middle island. If you need to get somewhere that is only a mile off, you are often not safe from traffic if you decide to walk it.

2. Other countries are also obsessed with food. I come from a mediterranean country, and when two of my compatriots get together, the most likely topic of conversation is food. This goes for both men and women. We end up describing the food we had last night, swapping recipes, and ok, making fun of British food. The difference is that the food is quite vegetable based, cooked from scratch, and contains olive oil as the predominant fat.

3. Food seems gendered in this world, which is causing one set of problems in America and the West, another set of problems in developing countries. Men are made to think it is unmanly not to eat meat and greasy stuff. See how many commercials there are that imply eating healtily is a female preoccupation and thus bad. It is sexist and stupid. If you are a woman and doing the cooking at home, see how much resistance to change there is from the men in the family.

In other parts of the world, gendered division of food is causing illness and starvation. It may not be the case for the people on CC, who obviously have a certain standard of living, but women and children are not getting their share of food, even when it is available. Who is old enough to remember mummy getting bread soaked with meat juices as daddy ate the actual meat (and if she were menstrurating and anemic she might be more in need of the iron)? In countries where there is a shortage of food, this is actually a massive problem. So the same attitudes have different results (both bad!)

4. you are absolutely right about the restaurants. I think there are people who take their family out to a burger bar for every single meal in the UK as well, but most people would agree that this is not a good idea.

I came from Mexico like two years and a half ago and I gotta say you are totally right, food here is everywhere, everywhere, the tv only makes you think  about food and more food, mcdonalds everywhere, tacobell, burguer king, oh my god!!! is everywhere.

as soon as I got here I started gaining weight, up to 30 pounds the first year and a half, then got pregnant and I just started cutting down on carbs and stuff, and just ignoring restaurants in the street and stuff and just cooking at home as it used to be at my home in Mexico.

obesity here is a real problem, in mexico you don't see people as obese as you see them here and you don't see kids as fat as you see them here, I think the food industry here is a huge problem but it is all part of the culture, nothing  you can do about it buy try to follow your hometown traditions and try to escape from the american food industry madness and manipulation.

just wanted to be clear in the fact that i am not attackin american culture which I deeply respect, just the american food industry that I think is out of control.

Well, part of the problem is that you can give up cigarettes, alcohol, or whatever in their entirety, but it's impossible to completely give up food (well, you can, but most people will be dead within six months.)

In America, food is a business, and American culture is very heavily based on consumerism and advertising. That fuels crazy portion sizes, deliberate misinformation, unhealthy "food" for convenience and taste, and its ridiculous overassociation with pleasure instead of simply a basic daily need. I consider showering necessary, but it's not a huge deal with the best-scented soaps and a focus on the experience. It's get in, get clean, get out.

It IS an industry, meant to make as much money as possible. The actual benefit to the people is rarely considered.

Thanks everyone, I am glad I'm not alone in feeling this way. Yes, it is a huge effort to focus on ignoring food, the marketing hype and the "big business" aspect of it. For me, moderation seems to be working very well, which is why I find calorie-counter to be such a good site. It helps me keep food in perspective and I find it a useful tool.

I'm Australian living in Florida. I've been here for 20 months. I've gone from 73kg to 78kg. Here is what I've observed.

1. Florida menues are WAY over the top on fatty food. I was pretty revolted by the menu options when I came here. However since then I've travelled to New York and San Francisco and I noticed that there were more salad options available on the menu in those places, so I try to be specific when I complain about food in the US.

2. Portion sizes seem to be bigger here too. Before I came to the US I observed that portion sizes in Australia were bigger than they should be. However, in Florida the portion sizes are more than DOUBLE what they should be. My husband and I have taken to ordering a single meal between us (in Australia we only shared desert) when we eat out - and we're big eaters!!

3. I strongly support linden's observation that American cities are not set up for walking. There are so few continuous foot-paths here in Florida! I'm accustomed to walking and cycling as part of my daily routine. I can certainly find foot-paths here but if I struggle to find a continuous route of footpaths. I think the Florida city councils haven't had a policy of requiring developers to install footpaths. I should note that this might not be the case in other parts of the country.  I should also note that America has a better supply of recreational paths through recreational parks than exists around Sydney and Brisbane.... however those are places you visit on the weekend, and those paths don't give me a bike-friendly route to work or a place for a quick jog before work.

4. There are SO MANY fast food restaurant chains here.... and a surprising number sell food that is even less nutritious than McDonalds! If someone was prepared to live entirely on fast food, they could visit a different chain each day of the month!

Despite those factors, the fact is that I CAN purchase the ingredients for a healthy diet in the supermarkets. So I think infinityontrial and cerealaddiction are quite right; Americans can make healthy eating choices. I think the reason I've put on weight is that falling off the wagon is easier here in the US than back in Australia.