Think I'm Not American? Pass the Hamburgers. 362
purkinje writes "Immigrants and their children may choose to eat American food as a way to fit in, a new study found, which may help explain why immigrants catch up to the country's obesity levels in 15 years. The researchers cast doubt on some subjects' Americanness, asking if they spoke English or saying they had to be American to participate; this provokes what psychologists call stereotype threat, the fear you'll confirm negative stereotypes about your group. White participants weren't affected by these comments, but Asian-American participants were more likely to list quintessentially American foods — burgers, BLTs, mac and cheese — as their favorites when the researchers called their status as American into question. They were also more likely to order and eat those dishes, consuming an average of 182 more calories than their non-threatened counterparts."
Bullshit (Score:1, Insightful)
They eat that for convenience and price, just like the rest of us.
Re:Ironically (Score:3, Insightful)
And Salisbury steak is from England! And pizza is from Pisa!
Or people with those nationalities immigrated here and named their inventions after their hometowns in order to drum up sales of the "exotic" food.
Re:Cultural Identification in Food (Score:4, Insightful)
That's likely due to income. Taco Bell has some of the cheapest fast food in the nation and it's, well, fast! Food quality and nutrients notwithstanding, if you and your spouse have 3 kids and are working multiple minimum wage jobs, you're not likely going to want to cook proper home-made food every night nor could you likely afford better fast food.
As an aside, is it OK to refer to people as "illegals" and their children as "anchor babies"? Being Mexican-American, I enjoy torturing white people when they refer to my ethnicity. One week I'll be "Hispanic", and the next will be "Latino", "Mexican", "Mexican-American", or "Chicano", but I'm yet to hear, from anyone, that it is commonly acceptable to refer to someone as an "illegal" and their children as "anchor babies".
I'm asking out of genuine curiosity. I may just be behind the times.
Illegal Immigrant in my mind says that the person is in the country illegally and plans to stay. An "Illegal" sounds like the person illegally exists. "Anchor babies" sounds like the people had children in the country for the express intent of using immigration policy to preserve their own residence. It's without love for the child.
So, ya... is that normal?
Re:Cultural Identification in Food (Score:2, Insightful)
Illegal Immigrant in my mind says that the person is in the country illegally and plans to stay. An "Illegal" sounds like the person illegally exists. "Anchor babies" sounds like the people had children in the country for the express intent of using immigration policy to preserve their own residence. It's without love for the child.
And your point is? People do that and other people whine about it on public forums. I think Slashdot is annoying enough without getting in a tizzy about faux racism (especially, when the one in a tizzy implicitly practice it themselves, unless you think it's ok for every ethnic group other than the ones you happen to identify with to break whatever laws are convenient to break whenever they feel like it).
I find US immigration law to be both an abomination and a vast embarrassment. But it remains that US citizens wish to restrict immigration for whatever reason (even if for pure racism) and immigrants aren't US citizens. So legally, such things as illegal immigration exist and probably will continue to exist. And if someone wants to lazily call illegal immigrants, "illegals," I have no problem with that or with ruffling the feathers of the overly sensitive.
Availability (Score:5, Insightful)
As an Englishman who's spent the last decade in the States...
It has nothing to do with my trying to fit in and everything to do with what I can get for a decent price at a decent quality.
If I'd like Shepherd's Pie, my options are very expensive faux Irish theme pubs or lousy quality from cheap theme pubs that have once seen a picture of what a Shepherd's Pie might look like. If I'd like a proper roast with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, I can go to a senior citizen trap and get decent beef, terrible fried potatoes and a look of bewilderment if I mention Yorkshire pudding. If I want a good curry (Partition and its immigrants have made it a staple in England), I can get something dire at the mall, something mediocre in my city (thank you H1Bs) but I have to (and do, regularly) drive 80 miles each way and pay about $50/person to get great baltis, kormas, etc.
Or, if I'd like pizza, I can choose from any of a dozen local pizza joints. If I'd like a burger, I can choose from any of twenty chains plus local specialty places. And Mexican offers me hundreds of hole in the wall places plus at least half a dozen major chains. I can eat at every one of those for well under $10 too.
So, yes, I eat like an American and my waist rapidly started to look like an American's too. It has nothing to do with trying to fit in and everything to do with what's available. Give me a Sainsbury's and a Tesco, a good chippy (no, those things Americans call English pub chips really aren't), a good kebab shop (gyros may start with the same ingredients but are nothing like a British kebab) and a lifetime's supply of Cadbury's, Ginsters, etc. and I'll stay the hell away from American assimilation.
I don't think it's even a national thing. Ask any Californian who'd visited what Mexican food is like in Minnesota (not unlike eating a photograph of a burrito: it looks like one but tastes like cardboard). Ask any Pennsylvanian what a cheesesteak is like in California (for the love of God, why would you put avocado and lettuce in it?). Those people will also assimilate to the good local foods rather than endure the terrible bastardizations of what they love back home. Nothing to do with fitting in, everything to do with availability.
If only there was some common saying about correllation not being equal to causation.
And now you may all proceed with the English food and dentistry jokes. You've been very patient.