Our American Legacy?
Have you been to Paris?
I first went to France the summer after my junior year in high school. My host family, a high-strung but kind mom and dad and their three children, lived in Lille, in the northeast near the Belgian border. They took me on a wonderful weeklong trip to Paris. I fell in love...with the city, the language, the culture and history, and oh my, the cafes.
As we were strolling down some rue or another one afternoon, the dad pointed to the sign for Quick, one of the early (this was mid-80s, I hate to admit) French quick-serve chains, and said, "You see this? This is your latest export to France. This American 'fast food' restaurant thing...pfahhhhh."
I didn't take it personally, but that moment did get filed away in my mind—along with many others—as lessons in what it means to be American and to be a citizen of the world. He was right: franchised fast food is an American invention. As we continued walking and talking, I learned he was concerned about what Quick, and later McDonald's and other brands, would mean for French dining traditions, kids' perceptions of those traditions, and, frankly, the overall impact on health.
With those memories in mind, I enjoyed this piece in today's New York Times about how ingrained McDonald's is into French business and life—and how successful it's been.
These highlights from the story are especially interesting...
• McDonald's operating profit in France last year was second only to that of McDonald's in the United States.
• All the buns, meat, and other ingredients are from France, and virtually all the work force is French.
• The only ingredient that is not French, paradoxically, is the cheese on the cheeseburgers. (France doesn't produce much cheddar.) Insetad, the cheese usually comes from the Netherlands or Austria.
• In Europe, just as it did in the United States, McDonald's attracted attention by introducing healthy food items, like salad and fruit. Wouldn't my host father be relieved to know that?
Years later, when I studied in Paris during college (French lit major, oui oui), we went to McDonald's because it was so much fun to order a beer in a quick-serve restaurant. (Wait. It was fun just to legally order a beer, but even more fun to do it in a McDonald's.)
When I think about the spread of American culture through the world, I often think back to my host father's somewhat tongue-in-cheek statement: "This is what you've given us." I'm looking forward to helping Baby A develop a good perspective on American culture and how it relates with and to other cultures.
But when I take her to Paris, we will not be dining at Quick. Or McDonald's, for that matter.