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probably the most "typical" American food. But good-fried chicken also
has its champions, as do hickory-smoked or sugar-cured hams, turkey
(which some people wanted to make the national bird), fresh lobster,
and other seafoods such as crabs or clams.
In a country with widely different climates and many fruit and
vegetable growing regions, such items as fresh grapefruit, oranges,
lemons melons, cherries, peaches, or broccoli, iceberg lettuce, avocados,
and cranberries do not have to be imported. This is one reason why fruit
dishes and salads are so common. Family vegetable gardens have been
very popular, both as a hobby and as a way to save money, from the days
when most Americans were farmers. They also help to keep fresh food
on the table. One thing that always grows is zucchini, and trying to get
the family to eat more of it with everything, or the neighbors to accept
just a few more, has become a kind of national joke. In some areas where
just about everyone goes fishing now and then, fish replace zucchini
("you caught them, you eat them"). The first fresh perch or mountain
trout are quite good...
The second advantage America has enjoyed is that immigrants
have brought with them, and continue to bring, the traditional foods of
their countries and cultures. The variety of foods and styles is simply
amazing
There are four trends in America at present which are connected
with foods and dining. First, there has been a notable interest in the
number of reasonably priced restaurants which offer specialty foods.
These include those that specialize in many varieties and types of
pancakes, those that offer only fresh, baked breakfast foods, and the
many that are buffets or salad bars. Secondly, growing numbers of
Americans are more regularly going out to eat in restaurants. One reason
is that they are not expensive. Another reason is that many American
women today do not feel that their lives are best spent in the kitchen.
They would rather pay a professional chef and also enjoy a good meal.
At the same time there is an increase in fine cooking as a hobby for both
men and women. For some two decades now, there have been popular
television series on all types and styles of cooking, and the increasing
popularity can easily be seen in the number of best-selling specialty
cookbooks and the number of stores that specialize in often exotic
devices and spices.
A third trend is that as a result of nationwide health campaigns,
Americans in general are eating a much lighter diet. Cereals and grain
foods, fruits and vegetables, fish and salads are emphasized instead of
heavy and sweet foods. More than one American, of course, will refuse

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