Given a scenario of anticipating the opening of a hamburger fast-food restaurant in the countries of United Arab Emeritus (UAE), Israel, Mexico, and China, we must first begin by looking into their culture and how that may influence how food is prepared and what is contained in the food(s). A country’s culture will also dictate how meals are consumed, where they are consumed, and at what time of day they are consumed.…
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.…
In Bich Minh Nguyen’s memoir, “Stealing Buddha’s Dinner,” she narrates her experiences growing up as a Vietnamese refugee in a predominantly white, conservative community of Grand Rapids Michigan, in effort to assimilate to the American culture. Emigrating from Vietnam and experiencing the new American culture, she desires to fit in and be accepted as an American when her ethnicity inevitable marks her as different, being colored Vietnamese and non-Christian Buddhist. Nguyen’s journey toward her self-realization and reconciliation can be traced through her complex relationship to food. Her self-discovery is genuinely embedded in her responses to the food she is exposed or wishes to have. Unfortunately, not all of her responses…
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Eric Schlosser. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001, 383 pp. Notes. $13.95.…
Whether we like it or not, fast food and its detrimental effects have become an epidemic. For many years, people have been oblivious to the growth of the fast food industry. However, over the past three decades, the fast food industry has nearly taken over our American society; almost anywhere, one can see its vast influence. As a result, in his book, Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser portrays the influence of the industry. By implementing pathetic appeals for injustice and disgust, statistics from reputable sources, and fear of the consequences of fast food, Schlosser shows the average adult how the fast food industry is ruining American culture as a way to reform its problems.…
Diversity is growing in every direction and it is apparent in the food industry. Barrows, C., Powers, T., & Reynolds, D. (2012), “One of the great factors accounting for the success of ethnic restaurants, for instance, is America’s already great diversity. The number and scope of ethnic dining options has increased dramatically in recent years, especially in smaller markets” (Ch. 2, pg. 44, para. 5). Because the world is becoming so diverse, we now have access to different foods and cuisines that we would not typically be able to get unless going to those specific countries. With diversity, the hospitality industry is growing more and more each year and all different types of cultures are being introduces, so the industry needs to learn how to adapt and handle the changes to be able to keep up with the demand as well.…
What we eat nowadays is heavily affected by social context and what we eat by ourselves and when were with others, usually when we eat with others we head out to the town to find a restaurant or bar. But if we were to compare what it would be like going out and eating today with what it was like 15-30 years ago it would be very different. This change has been affected by other cultures cuisine, a lot of our take on Asian food has come in but it’s not traditional Asian food, we have adapted it…
In 1955, after hard negotiations, Ray Kroc saw his ideas and aspirations of franchising McDonald’s come to life; since then the corporation has franchised all over the world. Kroc constructed a business model that produced a phenomenon called McDonaldization, which has translated beyond the fast-food world to other consumer companies that we frequent, everyday. McDonald’s has influenced not only the American society but also outside its borders to affect multiple cultures around the world on a micro and macro level. This essay will summarize the central dimensions and ideas of McDonaldization, its effects on our day-to-day lives, and its threat to cultural diversity, our values, and our futures. Throughout this essay one should consider: Is McDonaldization more harm than it is good?…
Food in America is a passion. This country has elevated the art of gastronomy to a pinnacle seldom seen in the annals of human history. While other countries can boast a longer culinary history, and a more narrowly defined cuisine, America’s position in the culinary world is supported by their unapologetic lack of these constraints. American cuisine has been influenced by a great many things. Primary among the influences has been the introduction of immigrant cultures into the “Great American Melting Pot” resulting in an eclectic cuisine unique in the world for its diversity and surprising homogeneity. The “Melting Pot” metaphor is appropriate, as the immigrants of different nationalities retained their cultural characters’ and yet blended together to become a single people. As such, dining in the United States demands a knowledge of all the…
Because of the change in status, scouse are now distributed as sophisticated culinary in high-quality restaurants (Kierans & Haeney, 2010). As a result, this shows that traditional working-class food can become allocated into a new aesthetic and high cultural culinary value for high-middle classes to consume. This is heavily supported by the consumer capitalism as it promotes people to spend money. As foodie become more globally universal in establishing their food habits through sophisticating traditional food. Foodies develop food practices in this way to…
Inside, I saw American vending machines, Italian waiters, all plastic golden cutlery. I knew immediately this is not a real Chinese restaurant, but one that caters to other people. This is what others think when they talk about Chinese food, the mere shell of Chinese that is revealed to others. My daughter turned to me. “ Do you like it, Ma? I picked it out just for you.” she said proudly. I realized that this faux Chinese culture is exactly what my daughter has become. She wears her identity vainly, open for everyone to see. If only she could see herself from my view.…
With “Eating with Immigrants”, Rose Anna Higashi shares us her hobby with her husband – eating. She shares us the interesting things while they are eating at immigrant restaurants. She also makes some comparisons that show us the difference between American’s fast food restaurants and immigrant’s family restaurants.…
America has been encountering many different types of cultures since it was first founded. These distinct types of cultures lead to the development of various types of food options. However, fast food productions stood out to be the top meal choice. The reason for this expansion of encounters with fast food has to deal with the American desire to gain more material wealth and become more prosperous. Americans expanded their encounters with fast foods by means of franchising, advertising, and processing of foods to help them acquire the wealth that they desire.…
I am of Chinese descent and one of the biggest parts of being Chinese is food. Food in China is diverse and unique from region to region. As a result, one’s cooking will often reflect one’s identity. As I learn to cook, I have to choose. Will I favor the Szechuan style, hot, spicy, yet heart-warming? Perhaps I’ll favor the sweet Shanghai style, more delicate, yet more refined. Or, I may go with my parent’s Shandong Style, rich, powerful, and familiar to me. As I learn to cook, I will refine my identity through the dishes I…
In this book the author describes some of the reasons people eat fast food. As she states, many people relay on fast food due to how convenient and easy it is to get it. Fast food has spread all over the US in 1940s and today it has also spread across the global, creating and responding to the demand for American food that is low cost and taste at the same time. Even though some Americans have low-income they still spend more money in unhealthy food than fresh food. Americans tend to spend more money in fast food than in movie, magazine, books, and newspaper. Since many Americans have include fast food into their life, many fast food restaurants have opened causing a dramatically alteration of the appearance of American highways, city streets and suburbs. According to her African Americans and Latinos spend more money on fast food than White Americans due to their conditions. Many people in the suburbs do not have car access to stop at the supermarket instead they can take a walk to the nearest fast food restaurant and get a meal for less than five dollars. This book in particular will help me understand how people make decision regarding about their…