Many people who go abroad on vacations or who travel on business learn very little about the culture of the place they are visiting.  If one stays in conference hotels or if one travels with a tour group, it is difficult to see more than the state of the tourism industry in the country being visited.  A traveler needs to have some of the daily experiences of a local person before he or she can begin to understand a new place.   

One of those daily experiences is finding food.  Every society eats, but there are important differences in what is available and how one obtains it.  Even in a country like France, which is as industrialized and prosperous as the US, spending just one hour in a supermarket can reveal interesting aspects of local culture. 

Looking at the produce section, an American would get the impression that French people want to know a lot about what they are eating.  All of the fruits and vegetables are labeled with their countries of origine so it is clear where the food is coming from. Another thing that makes an impression on Americans is that there is a more vast range of organic produce, and unlike in the US, it is not much more expensive than non-organic fruits and vegetables.   

The meat counter shows that French people enjoy eating a wider variety of foods than is common in the US.  In addition to beef, chicken and fish, French supermarkets also sell rabbit, duck and guinea fowl.  Another thing you see here is that if you ask for hamburger, it must be ground in front of you so that you can be sure that no unsavory “meat by-products” are mixed into it. 

One could gather from the packaging sizes of many foods that French people exercise better portion controle than Americans.  The largest container of milk available is a one-litre box.  Chips, pretzels and cookies are sold in bags that are no bigger than the “lunch-size” bags sold in America. 

French supermarkets also have an extensive selection of beers, wines and other drinks; the alcohol section of any medium-sized French supermarket is on par with the offerings of a good American liquor store.  Americans may take the presence of so much alcohol to indicate that the French drink to exces, but they are actually more moderate than Americans in their consumption of alcohol.  The French do enjoy a wide range of drinks, but without exces. 

Most French supermarkets have a bakery section with its own cash register at the store entrance; many people make a quick stop at the supermarket for nothing but bread.  From this, one could correctly infer that fresh bread is an important part of the French diet. 

But don’t take our word for it – visit France and see these things for yourself.  Purdue offers about twenty different programmes in France, for students in all majors.  Visit our searchable programmes page for details.

Newsletter Links: [Current Articles] [Archived Articles]

[Sign up] to receive newsletter updates in your email.