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2004-06-01 Home Front: Culture Wars

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Posted by tipper 2004-06-01 1:21:45 AM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Well, it's pretty fruitless to argue against the "Americans are fat" point. Last year, when I was in China for a month's time, I noticed something odd that I couldn't put my finger on. In an "A-ha!" moment, I realized that there were no fat people in China. There are certainly no shortage of huge crowds here, either. Just on a trip down to the shopping areas, you can see hundreds of people at once, and several thousand in the course of an hour. Know how many of them were fat? NONE. I kept count of the fat people I saw. After a month's time, I had seen exactly four fat people. The sad thing is, two of them were children...I think maybe China will give us a run for our money in 10-20 years. When I returned to America, I saw four fat people on the walk from the jetway to the terminal.

Anyway, the pioneer mindset is still there..."clean your plate" is a theme that burns in my mind constantly, it's how I was brought up. My parents would be angry if I didn't eat all my food, especially the meat (you're wasting money, boy). In other cultures, there's no pressure to finish everything, and indeed in China it's considered rude to finish everything...a sign of good hospitality is that there is plenty of food left at the end of the meal, it means the host is prosperous enough to afford it.

Posted by gromky 2004-06-01 3:41:25 AM|| 2004-06-01 3:41:25 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 I have found myself listening to Londonersâ diatribes against the sheer weirdness of the American citizenry

And don't you forget it.

Posted by Shipman 2004-06-01 8:00:11 AM|| 2004-06-01 8:00:11 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 As a young American punk rocker living in London 20 years ago, I would sit for hours drinking cider with my Brit mates, and watch the lovely birds stroll down the King's Road.

I appreciated the great looking legs (more walking, less driving there) and said so but the Brits complimented the American bust line. I pointed out that was a product of high caloric intake.

We were at an impasse and had to agree to disagree.

Posted by JDB 2004-06-01 8:45:31 AM|| 2004-06-01 8:45:31 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Well, Kimmie might be the only fat guy in North Korea, but I don't think we ought to adopt their anti-obesity program.

Posted by tu3031 2004-06-01 10:13:43 AM|| 2004-06-01 10:13:43 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Recently made my first European trip, mostly in Italy, and I made the same "Aha!" Gromky does on a lesser scale... No morbidly obese folks anyway. I pondered it a number of times and realized one issue is sheerly logistical. If you were "Mama Cass" big, you would never be able to fit in the micro cars that are most popular in Rome. I wondered to my wife if all the fat people were stuck in their rooms, ala "
Gilbert Grape".
I made friends later with an Italian restaurant owner who had spent 13 years in NJ. He blames Americas weight issues less on Mickey D's, and more on the amount of "processed foods" that Americans face at every meal, including breakfast. "We eat what is fresh, in season, and simply prepared." I had a walk through of his restaurant, and he had less shelf space dedicated to pantry's, spices and refrigeration than many upscale American kitchens. He said if he were to come to America and be my personal chef, the first thing he would do would be to dump most of the crap on the inside of my refrigerator door! When I went home and looked, I realized that many of the foods I considered to be part of a healthy lifestyle, Salads etc, were completely bad for me by the time I finished pouring on dressings etc.
His food was fabulous, by the way... It's not rocket science...Eat well but make it from fresh components.

Posted by Capsu78 2004-06-01 12:00:15 PM|| 2004-06-01 12:00:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 "Britain and Australia come next. Europe is better and the Scandinavian countries best of all.

Yeah, now check out the relative suicide rates. What Scandanvia has is apparently a bunch of skinny and, oh so VERY depressed, people.

Posted by Anonymous5085 2004-06-01 4:53:42 PM|| 2004-06-01 4:53:42 PM|| Front Page Top

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