Sound familiar? If I were a sleazy nutritionist looking to make a quick buck, that would be my pitch for this post, but I'm not a nutritionist. I'm a college student, with a camera, in France. But I have managed to make some interesting observations about how the French eat and live, and what America could learn from it.
First, the French laugh in the face of every diet plan ever made. They chow through carbs with bread at least once a meal (often times several!); they mow down milk, butter, and cheese with almost insatiable hunger; they even eat baked goods so full of fat, dairy, and chocolate, they just melt in your mouth. Yet, despite all of these factors AND their well known smoking habits, the French have amongst the lowest rates of obesity, stroke, and heart disease in the world. Every nutrition plan, book, and policy in the US says these people should be grossly overweight, rolling from place to place, and dropping like flies from heart failure and stroke.
So what's the missing piece? How could all of these books and policies have missed the key ingredient in teaching Americans how to eat healthily? Maybe because, for the French, it isn't just about what they eat. They don't count calories, fret over carbs, or skim out their dairy fats. For the French, it's their entire way of life, how they interact with their food, and what they expect their food to be.
For starters, the French expect their food to be fresh. Whether from the MacDo on the corner, or the pricey restaurant in the center of the city, if the food isn't fresh, the place won't stay open long. Food from the markets here expires in a matter of days, not weeks or months. Most meals are made the same week the ingredients are bought from the store, if not the same day. And because of this demand for freshness, the French have enjoyed a smaller carbon footprint from their food. Because when freshness counts, a pear or eggplant from Chile can't compete in the market against a pear from southern France or an eggplant from Spain.
Another side effect of the obsession with fresh, is that food here is pure and relatively unprocessed. When a muffin or loaf of bread made today will have to be thrown out in two days (maximum) instead of two weeks, there's no need for artificial preservatives or stabilizers. High fructose corn syrup is almost ubiquitous in the US, but here you would be hard pressed to find it, even in the sodas. Partially hydrogenated oils aren't even in the French lexicon, let alone phrases like "trans-fat free." They simply aren't needed, because they aren't used in the foods here.
Next, and I think this is a key part that all the nutritionists and policy-makers miss, is that the French life style is very, very different. Here, the reigning form of transportation isn't cars, like in the US, but human legs. Either walking or on a bike, most Frenchies (and other Europeans) propel themselves through the cities and towns under their own power. Even in motorized transport, motorcycles, scooters, and public transit are far more popular than cars, and trains and planes are used for long distance travel.
But besides being more active in their transportation, the French are also more active in their leisure. A recent survey found that 4 out of 5 French teens preferred sports to video games, and even though most of the schools don't have sports teams, they are encouraged from a young age to practice sports that interest them: soccer, rugby, swimming, skiing, and martial arts being among the most popular. Soccer and rollerblading are ubiquitous throughout the city not only as sport, but as fun. As the weather begins to warm up, the parks are filled with young people performing intricate dances with soccer balls - balancing them on their heads and rolling them around their shoulders. Rollerbladers line up in the plazas to play tag and show off their latest tricks.
But there's another aspect of the French lifestyle that greatly effects how they interact with their food and eating. They are never in a rush to eat. Ever. Even at a MacDo, they expect to feel and be paced as if they were in a full fledged restaurant. They take a lavish 2 hour lunch break, much to the frustration of myself and my American companions, which is a ritual of eating that usually includes at least 3 courses (entrée, plat, and dessert). On Sundays they have what's called a répas, a large meal of at least four courses (one of which is devoted entirely to cheese) which can take several hours or more to enjoy. The point is, they take the time to enjoy the art of food. This is a tactic well known to help prevent over-eating, and it helps you savor every last bite of the delicious, fresh meal that has been prepared. In America, we love eating. In France, they love food. The difference is subtle, but the meaning is huge.
I think we American consumers can learn a thing or two from the French, and, if we want to truly fix our obesity problem, I think we need to. We need to begin to love, and demand, fresh, pure food. We need to learn to take a moment out of our busy lives to truly enjoy what we're putting into our mouths and bodies. Once we can learn to do that, once we learn to love food, we won't need sugar sin taxes, or words like "trans-fat free" to curb the growing belt lines. It does mean a fundamental shift in the way we think and live, but after seeing the flavor, joy, and healthiness it can unlock, I couldn't imagine it any other way.
So that's one of the things I've realized, and I hope I can take this new view on life and food back with me when I go home. I'm going to continue this series, sprinkled through my regular posts as I experience new things that make me think and reflect on how I live my life, and how I can make it better. Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday, but I thought today, Mardi Gras, would be much more fitting...
I'm also going to start a new series on minor differences, problems, and oddities I've encountered in the French language, accompanied by doodles from my school notebook. Look for one of those as soon as I can get the sketches digitized; they should be pretty funny. Don't worry, I'll translate them for all the non-French speakers. Until then, it's back to the camera!
No comments:
Post a Comment