PLEASE DON'T super size me

When I was in 8th grade, I watched the famous "Super Size Me" movie in my Family and Consumer science class. Fast food made up the majority of my meals. It was easier on my mom and much more convenient with all the activities I was involved in. But then I watched the movie and began thinking twice about the Kids' Meal I was eating and the "awesome" toy gadget I was playing with. The double take wasn't the result of some complex idea that really tripped my trigger; the fast food apply was shot down on the obvious: health concerns.

I watched a portion of "Super Size Me" in class yesterday. It's amazing what details rewatching can pick out to the viewer. Since lasting watching the video, my eating habits have varied, but never back to the pre-watching way of regular fast food eating. I also have two years as the Health of editor of the school newspaper under by belt. I have a broader, more in-depth view of dietary and nutritional knowledge. The key to unleashing this knowledge is action.

It's easy to know that fast food is bad for you, but will you in essence boycott these restaurant chains? It's easy to know that pop is bad for you, but will you abstain from drinking it? It's easy to know that junk food is bad for you, but will you substitute with veggies? For most the answer to these questions is easy: no. I will admit, I can only definitely answer one of the three with yes, and it's not the fast food one.

So why do we Americans refuse to sever our ties to fast food restaurants? I happen to think culture is the answer. I hate to conform to stereotypes, but I think the one that says Americans are unhealthy eaters happens to be correct. It's gotten to the where this stereotype is more a fact than a faulty generalization. Like the movie states, America is the fattest country in the world! The narrator of the movie then coupled this fact with, "Congratulations!" I don't know if I would go so far as to congratulate but cringe.

It is true that the United States has made a name for ourselves in the food world. As the beat reporter for the cultural exchange students at my high school, I never forget to ask them about food. I specifically ask about our food in comparison to theirs at home. It normally goes a little something like this:

The food here is healthier or unhealthier? unhealthier
The portion sizes are smaller or larger? larger
Do you like the food here? yes

These three questions pretty much sum up culture cuisine differences in the simplest of ways. Although American food is both unhealthy and not proportional to appropriate serving size, the fact that "yes" it tastes good makes the pro and cons (plural) of American food deadly. The pro of taste wins. But should health have to be tossed out for taste? No! When I was in China, my room mate and I both lost weight, and we weren't trying. And it wasn't like we weren't eating anything; I always walked away from the dinner table with a full stomach. Here's the secret: All the food was fresh. We had rice, meat, eggs, soups, vegetables, fruit, and herbal tea. And for dessert: fruit. This was the hardest thing for me to adjust to. But by the end of the two week stay, my sweet tooth had suppressed. It wasn't a horrible thing if every meal had a dessert to follow (or in some American cases, precede). The only time I had dessert was when I went out of my way to get something. Guess where I went? McDs.

Yes, I ate at a McDonald's in China. I remember standing in line when the Chinese cash register lady asked for my order....in Chinese. I'd have to point. Sure I knew Chinese, but not how to order at McDonald's. So I scanned the menu. Uhhhh.....it wasn't quite the same. Let's just say the McDonald's that's 6 minutes from my home doesn't serve rice as a side. Finally, I came across a familiar American treat: ice cream. With a sigh of relief, I pointed to picture and read aloud the order number in Chinese. (I can handle numbers.) I ordered a vanilla cone. It was small, but tastefully familiar. My friend from Florida and I both ordered a cone. We left the McDonald's restaurant and licked the ice cream already dripping onto our hands. We laughed. And then I got my picture taken with a statue of Ronald McDonald. A lake and cherry blossoms served as the backdrop.

This is where the whole cardinal collision comes into play. When in China, I was a direct recipient of the cultural exchange. The item of exchange was American food. The collision took place in the McDonald's restaurant, where two cultures of foods shared the same menu. This same kind of exchange is evident in my city in the United States. There are many Chinese restaurants here in town. Somewhere in the exchange, the food's authenticity was lost. American Chinese food is different than Chinese Chinese food. It has literally been Americanized: fried, greased, and huge servings.

The art of cultural food exchange is a process of synthesis. When things travel abroad, they are morphed into the foreign society by synthesis, combining things to accommodate native interests with the desire for a flare of foreign. Beyond the food world, this holds true. But is this a good thing, or bad? It's a toss up for me. Half of me says an item of exchange losses it's merit if it's not in its raw, untampered condition. But then the other half of me thinks it'd be silly to forbid synthesis if the exchange, had it not been altered by the receiving culture, might have been rejected entirely without hesitation.

Both halves of me are fact. Both forms of exchange take place. My only request is knowledge. If the exchange was synthesized, I'd like to know. That way when I go out for dinner at a French restaurant down the street, I know if it's a fake.

*Image courtesy of The Movie Banter