America and Food

America has had a huge influence on food around the world.  McDonald's and Coca-Cola have emerged in markets on every single continent and almost every country besides Vietnam, Iran, the Vatican City and a few others.  American companies have revolutionized the way people eat food and changed the foods people eat.  "Eating On the Edge" by Jamie Horwitz tells how the way people eat food has changed inside the United States.  In talking about the invention of TV dinners in 1954 he says, "I recall being dazzled by the tv dinner on a tray table. It was the taste of freedom" (Horwitz 42).  Before the late 1950's in America, an importance was placed on the family dinner.  With the invention of TV dinners, however, things began to change.  As Horwitz states, meal times became less about sitting face to face with another person and more about staring at a screen today.  We see this as the norm today with many people eating meals or snacks in front of the computer or TV.  Meals are no longer a time for socializing but rather about convenience.  From the time I've spent abroad I can understand how this disgusts Europeans and others around the world.  France is a place where a family might spend two or three hours on a meal before its completion.  The emphasis is not on finishing the food as quickly as possible as in America but rather to appreciate the food and time spent with close family and friends.  Horwitz talks about the difference in emphasis placed on meal time in relation to the international space station.  He quotes an journal by NASA nutritionists Helen W. Lane and Dale A. Schoeller, “Some American crew members are content to eat ‘on the run’ and by themselves, whereas many European crew members prefer eating a complete meal as a group” (Horwitz 44).  There is an obvious difference in the way that American's view the importance of meal time.  It is hard to say which came first, the products like TV dinners from American companies or the desire for convenience in eating by American people.  Either way there is much opposition to this by the rest of the world.