Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Source (Extract):
The average daily diet has also undergone tremendous change, with all nations converging on a diet high in meat, dairy products, and processed sugars. Correlating closely to a worldwide rise in affluence, the new “global diet” is not necessarily a beneficial trend, as it can increase the risk of obesity and diabetes. Now viewed as a global health threat, obesity has been dubbed “globesity” by the World Health Organization. To many observers, the homogenization of human diet appears to be unstoppable. Vegetarians, environmental activists, and organic food enthusiasts have organized rearguard actions to reintroduce “traditional” and more wholesome dietary practices, but these efforts have been concentrated among educated elites in industrial nations.
Western food corporations are often blamed for these dietary trends. McDonald's, KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), and Coca-Cola are primary targets of anti-globalism demonstrators (who are themselves organized into global networks, via the Internet). McDonald's has become a symbol of globalism for obvious reasons: on an average day in 2001, the company served nearly 45 million customers at more than 25,000 restaurants in 120 countries. It succeeds in part by adjusting its menu to local needs. In India, for example, no beef products are sold.
McDonald's also succeeds in countries that might be expected to disdain fast food. In France, for example, food, especially haute cuisine, is commonly regarded as the core element of French culture. Nevertheless, McDonald's continues to expand in the very heartland of opposition: by the turn of the 21st century there were more than 850 McDonald's restaurants in France, employing over 30,000 people. Not surprisingly, many European protest movements have targeted McDonald's as an agent of cultural imperialism. French intellectuals may revile the Big Mac sandwich for all that it symbolizes, but the steady growth of fast-food chains demonstrates that anti-globalist attitudes do not always affect economic behaviour, even in societies (such as France) where these sentiments are nearly universal. Like their counterparts in the United States, French workers are increasingly pressed for time. The two-hour lunch is largely a thing of the past.
Food and beverage companies attract attention because they cater to the most elemental form of human consumption. We are what we eat, and when diet changes, notions of national and ethnic identity are affected. Critics claim that the spread of fast food undermines indigenous cuisines by forcing a homogenization of world dietary preferences, but anthropological research in Russia, Japan, and Hong Kong does not support this view.
Close study of cultural trends at the local level, however, shows that the globalization of fast food can influence public conduct. Fast-food chains have introduced practices that changed some consumer behaviours and preferences. For example, in Japan, where using one's hands to eat prepared foods was considered a gross breech of etiquette, the popularization of McDonald's hamburgers has had such a dramatic impact on popular etiquette that it is now common to see Tokyo commuters eating in public, without chopsticks or spoon.
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