3 ms·

> It is also a rather narrow definition, because having access to a lot of different restaurants serving a lot of different cuisines is currently only available

> It is also a rather narrow definition, because having access to a lot of different restaurants serving a lot of different cuisines is currently only available in a handful of large and mid-sized cities. It’s interesting to me how many people simply don’t believe that diverse cuisine could be universal in the US. I’ve been to towns of 5000 people with restaurants from four different nationalities.

mrits 3y ago
Yeah, small towns all over the us can be very diverse. Article also acts like France doesn’t have poor people eating Nutella sandwiches everyday
- iancmceachern 3y ago
  To poor people in the US Nutella on a French Baguette would be a treat. In the US poor people eat "peanut butter" that is made from some peanuts, and a bunch of hydrogenated palm oil or whatnot. The bread isn't even legally bread by French law, it's some weird thing made in a bread factory not a bakery and its shelf stable for 2 weeks but also not nutritious. You can walk into a Walmart and get a jar of the cheapest store brand hydrogenated oil peanut butter for $3 or so, and a loaf of the cheapest store brand white bread for $2 or so. Your luxury French Nutella desert sandwiches would cost closer to $10 for the Nutella and like $3-4 for the baguette I'm not joking, Nutella is viewed as a real luxury here
  - SpicyLemonZest 3y ago
    I can’t defend American supermarket bread, but do you… not know that Nutella has palm oil in it?
    - iancmceachern 3y ago
      Yes, I do I dont personally eat nutella I'm trying to tell you that it gets way worse than Nutella, Nutella is not poor people food here
- DoingIsLearning 3y ago
  You kind of proved the OP point since a poor french would probably eat a baguette with butter and a vegetable soup.
- teo_zero 3y ago
  Ironically, Nutella is not French at all.
chmod775 3y ago
Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and regional American restaurants of the fast-food variety? That's four. Tongue in cheek response aside, four is a tiny amount. It certainly isn't "a lot" of choice. If you've got that popular selection above, you're still missing Sushi and Japanese, Spanish, Turkish, Belgian, Thai, German, French, Vietnamese, Greek, Indian, Colombian, Argentinian, all Caribbean options, Korean, Russian, Peruvian, Scandinavian, Brazilian, Ethiopian, Irish, Austrian, Dutch, Chilean, Polish, Moroccan, Persian, Lebanese, Pakistani, Malaysian, Filipino, and Indonesian. And those are the well-known options. After that you're just venturing into cuisine where well-off city dwellers cannot immediately picture a dish.
nrp 3y ago
This is the exact quote I came here to respond to, and it’s a shame you’re getting downvoted for it. Your average town of 10,000 people just about anywhere in the US will have a pretty decent Vietnamese or Korean restaurant, a great taqueria, a boba place, a craft brewery, a couple of hipster coffee joints, along with the stereotypical American fast food that you would expect. It’s not 1990 anymore. Immigration, internal migration, and the internet has made our palates pretty diffuse nationally. That said, some of the statements in the blog post feel valid. The average American probably has access to a broader, more interesting, and arguably better variety of food than the average person in France, but the average eaten meal is almost certainly worse and less healthy, as we prioritize speed and convenience out of either necessity or preference.

mrits 3y ago

Yeah, small towns all over the us can be very diverse. Article also acts like France doesn’t have poor people eating Nutella sandwiches everyday

iancmceachern 3y ago
To poor people in the US Nutella on a French Baguette would be a treat. In the US poor people eat "peanut butter" that is made from some peanuts, and a bunch of hydrogenated palm oil or whatnot. The bread isn't even legally bread by French law, it's some weird thing made in a bread factory not a bakery and its shelf stable for 2 weeks but also not nutritious. You can walk into a Walmart and get a jar of the cheapest store brand hydrogenated oil peanut butter for $3 or so, and a loaf of the cheapest store brand white bread for $2 or so. Your luxury French Nutella desert sandwiches would cost closer to $10 for the Nutella and like $3-4 for the baguette I'm not joking, Nutella is viewed as a real luxury here
- SpicyLemonZest 3y ago
  I can’t defend American supermarket bread, but do you… not know that Nutella has palm oil in it?
  - iancmceachern 3y ago
    Yes, I do I dont personally eat nutella I'm trying to tell you that it gets way worse than Nutella, Nutella is not poor people food here
DoingIsLearning 3y ago
You kind of proved the OP point since a poor french would probably eat a baguette with butter and a vegetable soup.
teo_zero 3y ago
Ironically, Nutella is not French at all.

chmod775 3y ago

Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and regional American restaurants of the fast-food variety? That's four. Tongue in cheek response aside, four is a tiny amount. It certainly isn't "a lot" of choice. If you've got that popular selection above, you're still missing Sushi and Japanese, Spanish, Turkish, Belgian, Thai, German, French, Vietnamese, Greek, Indian, Colombian, Argentinian, all Caribbean options, Korean, Russian, Peruvian, Scandinavian, Brazilian, Ethiopian, Irish, Austrian, Dutch, Chilean, Polish, Moroccan, Persian, Lebanese, Pakistani, Malaysian, Filipino, and Indonesian. And those are the well-known options. After that you're just venturing into cuisine where well-off city dwellers cannot immediately picture a dish.

nrp 3y ago

This is the exact quote I came here to respond to, and it’s a shame you’re getting downvoted for it. Your average town of 10,000 people just about anywhere in the US will have a pretty decent Vietnamese or Korean restaurant, a great taqueria, a boba place, a craft brewery, a couple of hipster coffee joints, along with the stereotypical American fast food that you would expect. It’s not 1990 anymore. Immigration, internal migration, and the internet has made our palates pretty diffuse nationally. That said, some of the statements in the blog post feel valid. The average American probably has access to a broader, more interesting, and arguably better variety of food than the average person in France, but the average eaten meal is almost certainly worse and less healthy, as we prioritize speed and convenience out of either necessity or preference.