Why are Americans such bad eaters (health insurance, credit, taxes)
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I think this might be why. I've walked by a few McDonalds in Germany out of the way of city centres and they were fairly busy with what did not seem like tourists. Obviously a different story if you have a look at the McDonalds on Las Ramblas, Barcelona.
My experience has been that American and Canadian diets don't seem terribly different, but I think there is less tendency to eat fast food at every possible meal in Canada. I think it's a class thing at the end of the day in almost all cases. People with a reasonable disposable income are usually educated and can afford and know what to do with the ingredients to do homecooked meals, even though I disagree with the sentiment that fast food is always cheaper. It's not. Clean eating is also very popular here, moreso with every passing day.
Of my time spent in Germany I've noticed that pre-packaged food seems way uncommon for most people, and it seems to be only found in Aldi markets. People take care to eat a lot of very fresh bread, cheeses and vegetables - they universally always stack things on bread. That being said, I have also noticed that it's easy to just assume you are eating something super innocent when you grocery shop in Germany. I started looking at the ingredients lists (something I usually only do at home) and noticed a lot of the yoghurts that I thought were plain had all kinds of weird stabilizers, or fruit juices having corn syrup, etc.
Also, my German ex once told me the first time she came to Canada she was dreading the food situation, but ended up shocked and thinking everything was super high quality and nice. I don't know if it's because my family buys mostly fresh things, but I don't even think we eat as well as we should be in the first place. Perspectives vary, I guess.
When was the last time you went to a German grocery store?
It's the land of the mass produced, so what do you expect? Stop eating at chains if you want good food. Canada is a little better in this respect but is still somewhat afflicted by mass produced food as well.
It's the land of the mass produced, so what do you expect? Stop eating at chains if you want good food. Canada is a little better in this respect but is still somewhat afflicted by mass produced food as well.
As a rule, Canadians do tend to eat a little better.
Cheryl Bertrand, Hershey’s senior marketing director, said that last year the company conducted a poll and found that most Canadians are “label readers.” In other words, two-thirds of Canadians will only purchase foods made with ingredients they can pronounce, 61% of Canadians associate foods made with simple ingredients as higher in quality and 78% of us agree that simple whole ingredients taste better than processed ones.
My friends say it is because of their crazy schedules. They just don't have much time and energy to make their own food. Also unhealthy crap is cheaper than healthy stuff.
As a rule, Canadians do tend to eat a little better.
Cheryl Bertrand, Hershey’s senior marketing director, said that last year the company conducted a poll and found that most Canadians are “label readers.” In other words, two-thirds of Canadians will only purchase foods made with ingredients they can pronounce, 61% of Canadians associate foods made with simple ingredients as higher in quality and 78% of us agree that simple whole ingredients taste better than processed ones.
Oh. So, I guess that just so long as Canadians are doing "a little better" or aren't as bad as Americans in terms of poor nutrition/food choices, lack of exercise, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc, then everything's fine. I'm Canadian, and I know CanadianThink very well.
The truth is that Canadians, for the most part, eat all the same crap that Americans eat, and buy at all the same food establishments that Americans do (or whichever ones are currently available in Canada). In fact, they HATE it when they don't have access to the all the same crap in their stores that Americans have in theirs. Many Canadians will actually cross an international border (often on a regular basis) to be able to buy all that same crap they want to get their hands on. Crazy.
What Canadians SAY they do, and what they ACTUALLY do are two very different things. And the proof is in the pudding. No, the Canadian population, overall, isn't as obese as is the US population, overall. But I see and know LOTS of overweight, unhealthy, unfit Canadians. Plenty of 'em.
I see them among my own friends and family. I worked part-time as a pharmacy tech while an undergrad and saw firsthand the number of medications many Canadians depended on for their health. Just astounding. I also was a pharmaceutical sales rep in Canada for a few years after I graduated, and, well, let's just say that our quarterly bonuses were fabulous.
Last edited by newdixiegirl; 12-13-2014 at 11:47 AM..
The phrase that comes to mind is, "It is not good to be better than the worst."
Unfortunately, many Canadians will beg to differ. The US is Canada's dependable whipping boy AND yardstick.
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