News Taffy

I had an interesting conversation with a friend recently about the differences in the way people eat in Europe versus the United States. Amy lived in England for five years due to her husband’s job and it was quite a learning experience. The English have a totally different approach to food and eating and Amy had to adapt fairly quickly. For instance, people went to “farm shops” to purchase their meat, poultry and eggs. The population of the town where she lived was around 30,000 and there were at least 3 farm shops in the area. “You’d drive by the fields with cows grazing to pick up your meat”, says Amy. The meat was butchered differently than in the U.S. and she couldn’t always find the cuts she was used to cooking. Packages of meat had “kill dates” on them instead of expiration dates so you knew exactly how fresh your meat was. Also, the supply of meat was limited since only so many cows would be killed each week, meaning you might not get the hamburger, or mince, that you wanted.

The British don’t refrigerate their eggs. Ever. At first, Amy refused to buy unrefrigerated eggs, then she relented but put hers into the refrigerator at home. Finally she gave up and stored her eggs in the cupboard like everyone else as the refrigerators in England are dorm sized and the eggs were taking up too much room. As a result, you can not store much fresh food and most people shop every day. Amy rarely had days in which she didn’t have to shop for food.

Fruits and vegetables in England are much more seasonal. England does not have a long growing season and must import most food. It is also much more common to find fruits and vegetables that are already cut up and ready to eat or cook than in the U.S.; that is their version of convenience food.

Portion sizes are much smaller and the British are often appalled by how much food we consume and by how sweet our food is. The food companies in Europe have to adhere to higher standards as many additives that are allowed here aren’t permitted to be used there. For example, Lucky Charms weren’t sold in Britain until they changed the ingredients to fit government standards. Yes, indeed, food companies alter their products to comply with government standards in Europe but here they get by with adding all kinds of chemicals. Amy would buy foods on visits home and take them back to England to compare the labels. For example, U.S. peanut M&M’s ingredients differed from those you could buy in England though the packaging was the same.

Amy said I could write an entire article on school lunches. In England, children have an hour and a half for lunch. They can take their time eating and then head outside to play, no matter the weather. They are expected to dress accordingly. Many parents rely on lunch to be the main meal of the day as the children are served a nice hot meal with meat and vegetables. Amy said they might have a roast, a curry or a fish and that the kids enjoyed their food.

Amy felt that the British eat less processed foods and generally eat “cleaner” food. While they do eat sweets and junk food, they eat less overall. Perhaps we can still learn a thing or two from the mother country.