Was essen wir in den USA?

On the weekend I went to a big shopping center with my roommate (essentially a mall) that had a big grocery store (kind of like a Super Target). It’s a bit farther away than the other smaller grocery stores I’ve been to, but it was worth it because I bought the makings of guacamole, french toast, one-eyed sandwiches (egg-in-a-basket), and meatloaf, ‘typical’ American dishes I wanted to introduce my roommate to. (The guacamole and meatloaf were a success! The other two have yet to be introduced, we mostly fend for ourselves at breakfast time).

I also bought a small box of oreos because. Oreos.

While at the store, I came across the ‘worldly’ section, an aisle with foods from other countries. There was a shelf for Mexican food, Turkish food, Chinese/Japanese, Indian, and others. Included was American food. As you can see below, Germans think we live off of microwave popcorn, pop tarts, instant hot chocolate, and mac ‘n cheese.

Compared to my house, at least, it seems that Germans eat far fewer vegetables, because I don’t count potatoes. Which are in everything. Veggies aren’t as common on menus, aren’t generally in traditional German recipes, and I haven’t seen my roommate eat many, though that may be a personal choice. And your main meal can come with a side salad at a restaurant, but it’ll cost an extra 3 Euros.

Basically the way to eat healthy here is… to not. Just, walk. Everywhere. And stop buying Oreos, I guess.