French Anti-Americanism and Food
As the article “French Anti-Americanism and McDonald's” by David Ellwood suggests, French anti-American feelings today have origins and parallels in the past and hostility towards American fast food is just another form of the battle of cultural sovereignty. I would argue that this battle is related to the fact that France exports its history and values and American progressive cultural dominance since the beginning of the 20Th century not only endangers French “exception” and French economy, but also provokes nostalgia of France having the American “universal” cultural power in the past. Moreover, France seems to portrait the US as a prophet of globalization. Protecting French food values embodies and passes
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Food permits them to enter themselves day-to-day into their own history and to believe in French culinary identity and integrity.
David Ellwood states that McDonald’s chain is a target for generalized abuse of American commercial intrusiveness, just for being relatively small symbol of American economic power and global visibility. American fast-food company is seen as a global corporation profiting from American commercial and cultural hegemony, menacing both, French economy and French food culture. Food is seen as an emblem of commemorative national identity in the opposition to globalization and a contribution to France’s international
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In France, McDonald’s has more than 1,200 restaurants in France and yet even the chain’s success serves as a proof that French consumers continue to appreciate more their traditional kinds of food and ways of life, even in a contemporary, globalized society. In the article “Born in the USA, Made in France: How McDonald’s Succeeds in the Land of Michelin Stars”, Lucy Fancourt, Bredesen Lewis and Nicholas Majka remind us that the reason of McDonald’s success in France is due to the fact that it has redefined itself as a French company that is constantly looking to adapt to the needs and preferences of the French culture. Some of these adaptations include tailoring its menu to the French palate, creating friendly and comfortable interiors to encourage long-meals, introducing the McCafé, baguette sandwiches and many
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
As we look at this sizable intrusion into our national stock, we should see it as a threat to our way of life. A country of consumers and laziness is taking over our economy and using it as capital on the world wide market, we are one of the most Powerful countries in all the world. France offers culture where America offers stagnation. We are sophisticated with great cities and much to add to the continuing humanity and the American’s will just take everything for them and not offer us a table scrap. America will continue to reap the world for it’s own benefits, take more statues and then simply send their children to us for history lessons, because all we are to them is a tourist attraction.
In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser goes beyond the facts that left many people’s eye wide opened. Throughout the book, Schlosser discusses several different topics including food-borne disease, near global obesity, animal abuse, political corruption, worksite danger. The book explains the origin of the all issues and how they have affected the American society in a certain way. This book started out by introducing the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station beside the Colorado Springs, one of the fastest growing metropolitan economies in America. This part presents the whole book of facts on fast food industry. It talks about how Americans spend more money on fast food than any other personal consumption. To promote mass production and profits, industries like MacDonald, keep their labor and materials costs low. Average US worker get the lowest income paid by fast food restaurants, and these franchise chains produces about 90% of the nation’s new jobs. In the first chapter, he interviewed Carl N. Karcher, one of the fast food industry’s leade...
sociologist George Ritzer argues that the relationship between McDonald’s and our society runs even deeper. Beyond its commercial propaganda and symbolism, Ritzer says, McDonald’s is a potent manifestation of the rational processes that define modern society.
In the book Fast Food Nation: The Darks Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser claims that fast food impacts more than our eating habits, it impacts “…our economy, our culture, and our values”(3) . At the heart of Schlosser’s argument is that the entrepreneurial spirit —defined by hard work, innovation, and taking extraordinary risks— has nothing to do with the rise of the fast food empire and all its subsidiaries. In reality, the success of a fast food restaurant is contingent upon obtaining taxpayer money, avoiding government restraints, and indoctrinating its target audience from as young as possible. The resulting affordable, good-tasting, nostalgic, and addictive foods make it difficult to be reasonable about food choices, specifically in a fast food industry chiefly built by greedy executives.
Schlosser, E. (2004). Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal (first ed., Rev.). New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.
The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale). Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen,
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
A world without the Big Mac, Happy Meals, Chicken McNuggets, and the phrase “I’m lovin’ it,” is almost inconceivable. People around the globe have become accustomed to the high gleaming golden arches that make up the famous emblem for McDonald’s. McDonald’s has grasped the concept that culture flows from power. In this case, the American culture flows through the veins of this fast-food giant and the more that is supplied, the greater the demand. It is no secret that McDonald’s has become one of the world’s largest fast-food retailers. It has become a well known icon that has played a huge part in globalization, with chains located in many different countries… transforming the meaning of fast-food all around the world.
James Watson’s McDonald’s in Hong Kong is a textbook example of globalization. According to Webster’s dictionary, globalization is defined as “worldwide integration and development”. In McDonald’s in Hong Kong, Watson discusses a well-known and successful American fast food chain migrating over seas and embedding itself in the Hong Kong culture. Although Hong Kong was already recognized as an extremely transnational civilization, there were worries that the country would lose cultural identity. The fears were that Hong Kong would become more Americanized and lessen their ties to the Cantonese ways.
Food is traditionally considered as a simple means of subsistence but has developed to become filled with cultural, psychological, religious, and emotional significance. Consequently, food is currently used as a means of defining shared identities and symbolizes religious and group customs. In the early 17th and 18th centuries, this mere means of subsistence was considered as a class maker but developed to become a symbol of national identity in the 19th centuries. In the United States, food has been influenced by various cultures such as Native American, Latin America, and Asian cultures. Consequently, Americans have constantly Americanized the foods of different cultures to become American foods. The process on how Americans have Americanized different cultures’ foods and reasons for the Americanization is an important topic of discussion.
French people wanted more and they wanted better. The finer tastes which the French are credited with were beginning to emerge. This yearning for decadent food mirrored the stirrings in all of France. There was a revolution on the horizon and their tastes were reflecting their attitudes, the lower class of France wanted equality in life and in
Fast food made a gap between poor and rich wider, created the epidemics of obesity and transferred this cultural imperialism abroad. Eric Schlosser provides a lengthy list of charges but h combines then with the careful reasoning. His survey starts from California subdivisions where the business was born and continues to the industrial New Jersey where fast food is produced. In his book, Schlosser hangs out with teenagers who make fast foo...
American culture is changing dramatically. In some areas it’s a good thing, but in other areas, like our food culture, it can have negative affects. It is almost as if our eating habits are devolving, from a moral and traditional point of view. The great America, the land of the free and brave. The land of great things and being successful, “living the good life.” These attributes highlight some irony, especially in our food culture. Is the American food culture successful? Does it coincide with “good living”? What about fast and processed foods? These industries are flourishing today, making record sales all over the globe. People keep going back for more, time after time. Why? The answer is interestingly simple. Time, or in other words, efficiency. As people are so caught up in their jobs, schooling, sports, or whatever it may be, the fast/processed food industries are rapidly taking over the American food culture, giving people the choice of hot
Vignali, C. (2001). McDonald’s: “think global, act local”--the marketing mix. British Food Journal, 103(2), pp.97--111.