American food

[cherrypiepie]

I've a few questions about America food or cuisine. What is they day to day reality of food for those in the US?

I've just been on a cruise on an American orientated ship.

I read Michelle Obama's autobiography.

I've seen a few things in the internet.

What I noticed is that compared to the uk the food seemed ultra processed, even the same foods eg American Fanta, McDonald's fries (uk is potatoes salt and oil US is much more and lots of chemical additives), sliced bread. Fresh whole foods are not as prevalent in supermarkets so a whole shoe called Whole Foods has this market. I watched a person (wholesome family type) do a few recipes in you tube and they were "cooking from scratch" but they used cake mix for a cake recipe and jarred sauces for everything. Michelle Obama's description of the lack of ability to change the unhealthy school lunches as they are controlled by big business is a contrast to the uk where attempts have been made to address this issue. School lunches are hot dogs and pizza and fruit cup things.

The food on the cruise was nice but lacked the finesse of uk or continental food. And it wasn't as adventurous as a UK based cruise line. So the key lime pie would be similar to what I'd expect from a Pizza Hut type place not a £75 a head restaurant. (Appreciate this might just be this cruise line) The blue cheese salad was just called blue cheese not Roquefort or Stilton etc as it would I the uk. DH Fanta was bright orange (and he loved it!) I've read about people going nuts for American sprite too.

I wonder if any one can add any understanding to this?

I do love American food and we cook many seriously good American BBQ recipes and appreciate that there are some amazing food cultures in the US but wondered what the day to day reality is?

I watched a really interesting documentary about food deserts in the US....where people live miles and miles away from proper supermarkets and have no means of transportation. They eat what they can get from small convenience stores and fast food outlets. ...which is obviously not the healthiest. Shows how vast America is...I can't imagine living miles from a supermarket

One of the big differences in the US is agricultural subsidies. The PP who said that produce is more expensive because it’s not subsidised may be correct, but farmers in the Midwest earn approx 62 cents out of every dollar of income from government subsidies focussed on keeping employment levels in the Midwest high. Without those subsidies much of the Midwest would face mass unemployment.

But all that corn has to be consumed. So livestock are all corn fed , leading to fattier meat with lower levels of omega 3 ‘good fats’. Ultra processed high fructose corn syrup is added to bread, cake mixes and many many other every day products (including mayonnaise!).

In order to maintain the market demand high meat and processed goods consumption is heavily encouraged and marketed. The upshot is that the health of consumers is balanced against the need to maintain the Midwest agricultural employment rates and it loses every time. Which is why the US has such significant diabetes and heart disease rates. HFCS is highly addictive and pretty ubiquitous in everyday diets. Omega three fatty acids and other ‘healthy fats’ are more difficult to get as part of a normal diet. Once children are raised with highly addictive ultra processed food diets, that cycle is difficult to break and significant life limiting health problems ensue.

But it stops the Midwest from becoming an economic desert.
So that’s the trade-off

This is true even in my own area. If you do not have transportation, options would be very limited and expensive.

I met a neighbor in a small local grocery during a snowstorm. She was using a walker and lived about 5 blocks away from this grocery, which was less than an ideal place to shop. She had stocked up for the storm but then realized she had no way to get everything home. Really gave me a different perspective on life.

I would imagine California is fine for fresh food but some places not. I do remember someone in a restaurant in Texas who was served very yellowing broccoli - not a yellow colour but yellowed with age!

I can't believe someone thinks there's a lack of cheese, of all things.

Where we lived in the US, the local grocery store had no fewer than four separate cheese sections: the "cheese shop" with local & imported cheese sold by the pound, the pre-packaged cheese section with more local, domestic, and imported cheeses, the deli cheeses (this is where you'd find some of the things like American cheese) where they are sliced in-store, and the "regular" cheese section where you'd find grated cheddar, queso fresco, farmers cheese, pizza cheese blends & the like.

One thing the US does not lack is cheese!

Yes, were have plenty of options for good cheese here, also and even in the supermarket. I've had multiple guests from France who were quite surprised with some of the cheeses I served.

I was terrified to serve them cheese, actually, but I didn't see any alternative.

One friend was from the area where camembert is produced and well, she couldn't stop eating it and raving about it.

The others live in Paris and I promise have no qualms about speaking the truth. "This is NOT olive oil! I do not know what it is, but you cannot call it olive oil!" Then they gave us gifts of good olive oil for our wedding. So when they say the cheese was wonderful, they meant it.

Also not to add into a pile on every time I’ve got a morning flight with AA it’s come with breakfast which includes sausage smothered in blackcurrant jam.

I'm also really confused about mac and cheese in a box. What is it? How do you make it?

I have never baked anything from a mix, and I don't think I'm unusual in that. And I bake a lot. What you see on Youtube is not a good guide.

I work in healthcare in the US. Your second point is a bit silly. There are virtually no good pharmaceutical treatments for the negative health impacts of a poor diet. So a conspiracy between Mcdonald's and Pfizer is not on the cards.

Michelle Obama's pet project failed miserably not because of some shadowy opposition from "school dinner companies", whatever those are, but because it required the provision of foods kids do not want to eat, so most of the food wound up in the bin. My school district opted out of the program because the kids were skipping lunch. And the rules were unworkable. For example, kids could not eat bread more than three times a week. So the cafeteria had to stop offering sandwiches, which the kids loved, because they could not track which kids had hit the limit on bread servings for the week.

Why are Brits so eager to see conspiracies at work in the US?

Not eating vegetables is personal, not cultural. I knew plenty of families in the UK whose only vegetable intake was chips. They also thought canned beans were a vegetable.

Some people know better but still choose to eat like that.

One thing I’ve noticed is they don’t seem to sell individual packets of crisps-just big ones? Explains why characters in tv shows often have crisps/trail mix type things in ziplock bags.

I was watching an american cookery show recently and they just put cheese on everything. It seemed very boring. I like cheese but I like spices and herbs too.

It’s powdered cheese and pasta and you cook the powdery stuff with water or possibly milk then add the pasta. I saw a reddit post where ops sibling kept taking the packets of powder snd eating them raw (ew) as a snack and leaving behind the pasta.

Tbf that's my experience too.

We were in Florida 3 years ago and I was actually craving fresh veg by the time we got home (and proper butter/cheese).

It’s powdered cheese and pasta and you cook the powdery stuff with water or possibly milk then add the pasta. I saw a reddit post where ops sibling kept taking the packets of powder snd eating them raw (ew) as a snack and leaving behind the pasta

Doesn't sound hugely appealing. So easy to make a sauce with butter, flour, milk and chesse.

They do sell individual packets of crisps. Where did you get that idea?
Some people prefer to buy the largest size back and portion it out in ziplocks because is is a great deal cheaper, and it is easier to control portion size.

I can't think of one supermarket that doesn't have a huge produce section (fruit and veg) including organic fruit and veg. I think walmart is the biggest seller of organic fruit and veg in the US. Whole Foods is just one very overpriced supermarket.

Like everywhere people are different. some bake from scratch, some don't. some cook from scratch. some use jars. We have a farmer's market in our town from may to october and there is one in all of the neighbouring towns too. I get my meat from a meatshare from local farms. Sliced bread is crap - too sweet but every supermarket has a bakery section with decent french, italian and other bread.

I watched Jamie Olivers school dinner thing but didn't extrapolate from it that all people in the UK have crap diets and eat awful food.

I wouldn't judge any nation's food by a cruise. Am also amazed at people who go on holiday to the US and don't have a decent meal. Where are you eating?

yeah, which is why a lot of americans do exactly that.

It’s a long time since I was last in the states, but I remember everything being in huge portions. Even a fruit salad I ordered in a restaurant for dessert - it was MASSIVE and would have served four. Stupid five egg omelettes for breakfast and the like as well.

I also remember (and see online) that everything seems to have loads of sugar in it, and there are a lot of packet mix things (but there are in the UK too, to be fair).

I mean, the UK has an obesity problem as well and its not like everyone is shoveling down a fresh green salad every day as some posters seem to imply. What was that one tv show like 10 or 12 years ago where they had fat people lose weight and they showed what they ate on the table? All sorts of beige takeaway and beans at the start and then green food after the makeover.

Im from the Midwest and recognise none of these declarations of people eat as if they were living in a fallout shelter. My mother and my aunts all bake and cook and always have done. Someone, or a neighbor, has always had a garden or access to a farm for fresh fruit and veg in certain seasons, sometimes eggs or honey as well. But sure, there are also plenty of folks who prefer eating prepackaged food. Same as here. And for all the complaining about American food being processed, Im pretty sure Ive never seen a packaged cake on an American grocery shelf with a 6 month shelf life like you do here. Warburtons is just as nasty and cottony as Wonderbread.

However, I will say I miss being able to pick my fruit and veg from the massive displays in the US (or farmers markets), and not have it come all wrapped in dripping wet bags that make the food rot faster.

In the States, I can't think of a single person or family that I knew who could bake from scratch.

I can fix that. I recently posted this in another thread. Enjoy. The orange juice gives it a lovely flavor.

Miss C's Fabulous Blueberry Bread

2 Cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar, white or light brown. I use turbinado sugar.
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (perhaps a bit less)
0.5 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup orange juice. I sometimes need a bit more to get all of the dry ingredients to mix properly.
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups of blueberries
0.75 cups of chopped pecans or walnuts. I usually skip them because DS doesn't care for them.

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Grease a 9 by 5 by 3 inch loaf pan. I use butter.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender. Stir in the orange juice and beaten egg. Mix until smooth. Fold in the blueberries (and nuts if desired). Spoon into the loaf pan. Sprinkle an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over the top of the batter.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester or clean knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Some really wild things being thrown around here!

Yes, individual packets of crisps exist, are widely accessible, and come in a variety of flavours - of which salt & vinegar is one and which isn't particularly hard to find.

Produce exists and is widely consumed. Other threads have gone on at length about it; the area in which we lived is famous for producing amazing tomatoes, sweetcorn, and berries (cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries.)

Baking from scratch is common. It is something that was part of the school curriculum, and a quick Google shows that it still is in "my" region. Home Economics still exists as a class.

However the bread is crap. There's no defense for that!

I wondered why American recipes made a big deal about 'grass fed' beef and butter from 'grass fed cows' until I realised that most cattle in America are mainly grain fed. Whereas in the UK most (all?) cows are reared outdoors scoffing grass as the norm.

I've only been in big cities in America and have always found good food. But I do like to do my research in advance. I'd be interested to see what it's like to nibble my way around Iowa and Oklahoma and such places. I do love a rummage in a foreign supermarket!

Some really wild things being thrown around here!

It happens every time there's a thread about the US.