The store-bought junk food is pretty bad in America, to be fair. But foreigners also tend to overestimate their popularity, because American media is largely funded by product placement; The average American probably hasn’t eaten a Twinkie in months or even years.
Restaurants are where you’ll truly experience American food. You’ll be amazed at how much flavor is packed into each dish, and at how large the portions are. But the latter is largely a cultural thing; Americans typically have leftovers that they take home. Europeans will see the feast-sized portions on the table and immediately go “no wonder Americans are so fat…” In reality, Americans would expect to take half of it home.
You are extrapolating a lot from your own experience. I can confirm from my own upbringing that my family always had junk food or soda in the house - eating it was a daily occurance, and it was re-added to the grocery list each time we ran out with little thought given to the potential health impacts. And we only took home leftovers if it was, like, a really big meal.
Sure, not all Americans are like this. I’m not like this, and none of my friends are. But I am aware that I very much live in a bubble.
The store-bought junk food is pretty bad in America, to be fair. But foreigners also tend to overestimate their popularity, because American media is largely funded by product placement; The average American probably hasn’t eaten a Twinkie in months or even years.
Restaurants are where you’ll truly experience American food. You’ll be amazed at how much flavor is packed into each dish, and at how large the portions are. But the latter is largely a cultural thing; Americans typically have leftovers that they take home. Europeans will see the feast-sized portions on the table and immediately go “no wonder Americans are so fat…” In reality, Americans would expect to take half of it home.
You are extrapolating a lot from your own experience. I can confirm from my own upbringing that my family always had junk food or soda in the house - eating it was a daily occurance, and it was re-added to the grocery list each time we ran out with little thought given to the potential health impacts. And we only took home leftovers if it was, like, a really big meal.
Sure, not all Americans are like this. I’m not like this, and none of my friends are. But I am aware that I very much live in a bubble.
I’ve had one Twinkie in the last 20 years, and it was breaded in panko and deep fried.