America has a cuisine of bad habits

Eating American by Sydney Mintz

The author flashes back to when they made a statement at a lecture about how America does not have a cuisine. Some students take offense to this, considering the statement an insult to American culture in general. This chapter is the author's defense of his statement that America does not have a cuisine.

Mintz begins by explaining what sets America apart from other nations. He talks about the large population and vast area of land, not referencing food in any way. He also talks about the origins of American people, predominantly being descendants of Europeans, and the unique characteristics of individual areas in the U.S.

When he finally talks about food, he claims that pressure for immigrants and new comers to America to assimilate has established homogeneity. Frequently eating out, and certain foods like pizza and hot dogs being expected in the diet of adolescents are characteristics of social habits more than a cuisine. Also, our regular consumption of other cultures' food (e.g. Italian, Mexican, and Chinese food) would be considered a national cuisine, but wouldn't contribute at all to a cuisine of our own.

The most important point Sydney stresses is the effects of our consumption as a nation. We try to imitate any and all types of food and tastes. We also seek convenience in everything we do, especially food, making fast food and microwavable meals as popular as ever. For these reasons, whenever a new style or taste arises, we provide it in a cheap knock off version of the actual thing. And now, our sugar and fat consumptions are extremely high.

By the end of the chapter, Mintz is warning about the dangers of our wastefulness, pointing out how people eat healthy food to make up for the shitty food they eat, and thus buying much more than they should. I'm not sure what the book is about, but this chapter goes from an argument about why America doesn't have a cuisine to a preaching about how American habits need to change.