Human Diet Post 2

First, lets talk about the food here in France. Its delicious, mostly healthy, and every meal can be eaten with bread. Before coming to France I was only slightly nervous about the food. I am not an extremely picky eater, but I also can’t eat foods willingly if I don’t like them. So far, my time in France has involved nothing but good food. There were a few meals here and there that I could have done without, but nothing terrible. What I have come to realize is that the French took the need of food and completely turned it into a cultural experience. It has become not only a need of nutrients but a social environment in which their entire day revolves, “a meaning beyond that of sustaining physical functioning” (Nutritional Anthropology 1).

One thing that has been a major difference between here and home is the freshness of food. Yes, in Texas we have fresh options but nothing compared to here. At least not where I have been spending my time in Texas. In a region known for it’s markets (Root 92), Angers has a market every Saturday morning. And even the locals have their own personal gardens in their backyards. Below are some photos of the fresh market on Saturdays.

Something I noticed while at the market was the amount of people there. There was a pretty good mix of people but I did notice that the people there were on the older side of adulthood. I wanted to see if this was usually the case with markets so I did some research. I found an academic article by Jiyoung Hwang that “[suggests] psychological motivations (i.e., self-presentation) considered along with environmental concerns [have a stronger] impact on older consumers’ buying intention, outweighing the effect of environmental concerns.” Also, in a study done by SL Tamers, comparing the fruit and vegetable intake by adults in U.S. and France, the “overall fruit and vegetable consumption… increased with age in both the US and French populations” (Tamers 13).

I think a common factor between the older population and the younger population at markets is the interest in healthy options. The older want to eat right to help improve and prevent their health as they age and us younger folk do as well. I think the only difference for young people is that our intentions can sometimes start out from an appearance standpoint.

One of the things that I have really enjoyed is spotting the differences and similarities in dishes here versus the dishes I typically eat back home. It is also fun learning the name in French compared to home and sharing that knowledge between English and French people.

A whole other dimension to eating in France is the meal and its setting. A sit down meal here is a lot more fancy than what I eat at my home in Texas. There are again many parts, but there is also a place setting for each person consisting of all the silver wear needed and a napkin in a napkin ring. In my house, this would be considered a formal setting. Here, it’s normal. Another thing that is interesting is the order in which they eat. Below is a broken down dinner.

Aperitif: An appetizer, consisting of nuts/crackers/tomatoes and other small snack foods you eat while sipping wine.

During the meal, you have a smaller “beginning” food usually a soup or light dish of veggies. Following this, your main dish, a more hardy, filling plate of food. After this, you have salad and fromage with your wine.

Dessert: Dessert can range from many different things. Your typical dessert but occasionally a small serving of yogurt is considered dessert.

Below are some of the fresh home cooked meals I have had while living with my wonderful host family. French meals made by the best French people straight out of their garden. While doing some research I found that if a household eats more veggies it is a sign of higher class and status (Plezzs 173).

Going out to eat here is quite the process compared to going out in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. If you want to go out to eat in France, you better have at least 2 and a-half hours allotted for your meal. They take dining very seriously here. It’s a social time where you sit and enjoy your food with people you like to be with. It’s a time to have apéritifs, 3 courses, dessert and coffee afterwards. Unlike Texas, the server does not rush the check for table turnover. In fact, quickly asking for the check here can be quite a statement. Something I have noticed is the difference in portion size. This according to Rozin, could be an example of why French are thinner than Americans (Rozin 6). While the portions are smaller, you do end up satisfied and full like at home. My observation is that because there are so many courses and parts to one sit down meal, and don’t forget the bread, we are getting enough food to be happily full. You don’t leave stuffed like at home. Which I think is nice. The divine restaurant experience can be explained by the fact that it originated in France under Louis XV (Root 73).

Here are some of the meals I have had at restaurants and cafés since being here. But before we see them, lets talk about presentation of the food first.

There are a few things to notice about presentation of the food here in France. One thing I have found very interesting is that there are NO photos of their food anywhere. The menus consist of only writing, and nowhere in a café or restaurant do you see photos of their cooking. Back home, you can go to just about any restaurant and order a full meal without even reading a single thing. There are photos of every dish just about. To me, this helps the customer crave certain dished and order what looks appealing. Here in France I don’t think I have seen any photos on the menu. Photos would actually be very helpful when ordering due to the language barrier.

The presentation of the food when it arrives at your table however is perfect. The dishes aren’t over done or over decorated. The food speaks for itself. The French have mastered the art of food and the presentation says that. SO DOES THE TASTE. YUMMMM.

Studies have shown that the presentation of food has an affect on how we taste and like the food. Debra Zellner did a study that resulted in people liking a dish more than another if it was attractively presented rather than just neatly presented. Neatly presented dishes were more liked than dishes presented in a non-neat manner.

Something I question about not having photos of their food is how do restaurants advertise or market their products? When it comes to other products there seems to be a little bit of marketing through photos, still not as much as America, but still more than the marketing of their food. Another comparison to America is the how I decide where to eat here. I find myself walking aimlessly through the streets trying to find the perfect restaurant thats not too pricy and has exactly what I’m craving. Something I use quite often at home is yelp. It’s an app that helps people find and review places to eat. Yelp would be extremely helpful here except that it seems to not be used very much or at all here. It’s like the concept of photographing food hasn’t reached the French yet. However, in 2014 Yelp made France one of it’s new top priorities (Snyder). Saying all this, it’s very fun observing the differences between photographs and marketing of food here vs in the U.S..

One more fun observation. I came to France with this idea that I was refusing to eat McDonald’s in France. Because why would I spend money on something I can get in America? Well, I ended up eating it anyways. And it was quite different than an American McDonald’s.

You walk in and order on these giant tablets in the wall. Its basically a huge iPad that you order on. Which is good and bad. Good: you don’t have to talk to people in broken French, and lets be honest even if they spoke English the chances of McDonald’s getting your order wrong is like 10/10 times going to happen. Bad: you don’t get to practice your broken french. So once you order you get your meal and find a table.

Then the interesting things start taking place. First of all, they don’t believe in Mayonnaise. This is a strictly mustard country. That green packet you see is some funky ranch like “fry sauce.” The red packet is ketchup. BUT THATS ALL THE KETCHUP YOU GET. I usually use an insane amount of ketchup. Now lets talk burger and fries. The burger’s meat tasted better and more meaty and the fries were sadly less salty. However, the difference wasn’t huge taste wise compared to American McDonald’s. This meal here was around 6 euros. So the rumors were true, it’s definitely more expensive here. Good news: THE COKE HAD ICE!! WHAT!!? I was happy about that.

I hope this post has accurately described the comparisons between U.S. and France when it comes to food. I consider this blog entry to be a detailed introduction into my theme. For the first entry I discussed my home life and normal food intake, for this entry I have explained the differences in French cuisine vs American food and for the next post I hope to get down into the ‘why.’ My question is why does French marketing of food seem to be so lacking? According to cspinet.org, there are many restrictions on television ads and even the type of marketing in schools. I hope to elaborate on this and get down to the core of this topic.

 

SOURCES:

“Food Safety, Marketing and Other Policies.” Evaluation of Agricultural Policy Reforms in the United States (2011): 119-23. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Hwang, Jiyoung. “Organic Food As Self-Presentation: The Role Of Psychological Motivation In Older Consumers’ Purchase Intention Of Organic Food.” Journal Of Retailing And Consumer Services (2015): ScienceDirect. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.

Pelto, Gretal H., Darna L. Dufour, and Alan H. Goodman. The Biocultural Persepctive in Nutrional Anthropology. Boston: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.

Plessz, Marie, and Séverine Gojard. “Fresh Is Best? Social Position, Cooking, And Vegetable Consumption In France.” Sociology 49.1 (2015): 172-190. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Root, Waverly. The Food of France . New York : Vintage Books , 1992 .

Root, Waverly. The Food of France . New York : Vintage Books , 1992 .

Rozin, Paul. “Human Food Intake and Choice: Biological, Pschological, and Cultural Perspectives .” Food Selection: From Genes to Culture (2002): 7-24

Snyder, Benjamin. “Yelp Makes Europe Its Mission with Back-to-back Acquisitions.” Fortune Yelp Makes Europe Its Mission with Backtoback Acquisitions Comments. N.p., 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Tamers, S L, et al. “US And France Adult Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Patterns: An International Comparison.” European Journal Of Clinical Nutrition 63.1 (2009): 11-17. MEDLINE. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Zellner, Debra A., et al. “It Tastes As Good As It Looks! The Effect Of Food Presentation On Liking For The Flavor Of Food ☆.” Appetite 77.(2014): 31-35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Oct. 2015