`Am not too fond of the USA' - Vaitsekhovskaya's interview with Leonova

[allezfred]

Imagine the when it ends up just being normal beef

I'm thinking of trying it this weekend to see what it tastes like.

[antmanb]

I'm thinking of trying it this weekend to see what it tastes like.

I remember eating horse in France once when I was in my late teens....i remember thinking it tasted just like beef.

[ItalianFan]

Well, yes, but since you were so sure it wasn't the US and found the idea so laughable, I thought you must have some objective data to share.

I am actually interested in knowing the answer, not just jerking your chain, but I can always research it for myself if you don't know.

I confess that I have no scientific data about who has "the best and most abundant" fresh food but the reason I felt that it wasn't the US (and I wonder: why did no one question the person who made that sweeping original statement?) is that most of the produce in the US (excluding your friendly neighborhood farm in JUly) comes from giant agricultural businesses. Their interest is growing produce that the majority of customers want. Supermarket chains carry what their customers buy and in my experience the variety of produce is limited. Giant agriculture likes iceberg lettuce and not the obscure, hard to grow, even harder to harvest, little tiny salad greens we normally eat here in my area. (I know that in the last 10 years or so "arugula" has become available in the US and maybe even Lambs Lettuce but it is regularly mocked as outlandish something the "wine bar" trend setters eat. A normal salad in the US does not have arugula or lambs lettuce nor does it have "the Rose of Gorizia" https://www.google.it/search?q=rosa+...iw=947&bih=587
Not "best" because: Big agriculture harvests too early since unripe produce ships better, has a longer shelf life. In Italy too, unripe produce shipped long distances is mediocre. But there are myriads of little farmers who contribute to the 0 Km food chain. So we have an infinite variety of produce, "more nearly ripe" if you will. There are small businesses specialized in labor intensive products that giant agriculture cannot possibly reproduce. These are usually "typical" regional products which can only be cultivated in certain restricted areas having special climate conditions cheeses, various kinds of prosciuttos but also fruits and vegetables (the Rose of Gorizia is one of these). There is a movement to rediscover old varieties of fruits and vegetables which are no longer cultivated on a large scale. Giving people back the unique and different taste of rarer produce. A great part of the fame of Italy is due to its food and the "slow food" movement does what it can to defend traditions.
In any case, this is what I meant by all of it. I confess, as I previously wrote, that I am not a PC person, I am hopelessly opinionated, for which I apologize. Please in the future just consider every post of mine as being automatically preceded by IMHO.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

^ You seem to like it when people are "un-PC" but when someone dares to criticize Italian cuisine or culture, I bet you'll be the first to be offended. Just look at your defensive comment earlier. Sometimes being "real," "blunt", or "offensive" can be just as fake or contrived as giving diplomatic answers. I don't get people who are so happy when skaters are rude or even obnoxious because it usually shows their lack of foresight or intelligence and just makes them sound whiny most of the time. I mean I guess people only really like it when the skater says something the poster agrees with rather than truly liking the idea of a skater movin away from "PC" answers.

[allezfred]

I don't get people who are so happy when skaters are rude or even obnoxious

It gives us something to talk about, duh.

[Skittl1321]

Not "best" because: Big agriculture harvests too early since unripe produce ships better, has a longer shelf life.

How true this is. While I can get almost anything if I look around in the US, it isn't necessarily good. I ate a banana in Mexico that taught me that until that moment I had no idea what bananas should taste like. OMG- it was heaven.

Sometimes the 'best' food isn't about vast selection, but about getting the food that was grown there and then- eating in season.

[Domshabfan]

^ You seem to like it when people are "un-PC" but when someone dares to criticize Italian cuisine or culture, I bet you'll be the first to be offended. Just look at your defensive comment earlier. Sometimes being "real," "blunt", or "offensive" can be just as fake or contrived as giving diplomatic answers. I don't get people who are so happy when skaters are rude or even obnoxious because it usually shows their lack of foresight or intelligence and just makes them sound whiny most of the time. I mean I guess people only really like it when the skater says something the poster agrees with rather than truly liking the idea of a skater movin away from "PC" answers.

May be because it is unnecessary criticism, especially their cuisine.

[Holley Calmes]

Gosh - I was seeing arugula in good old southern Atlanta back in college, and I'm 63!! Steve Martin used to make jokes about it. I agree big agriculture has its drawbacks. I would like to state that the trendy thing now, and for the past 15 years or so that I'm aware of, is to buy locally grown produce, grown without pesticides and whatnot. Every town - and in many, many burbs and areas of big cities - are doing the same. Lots of backyard farmers around, supported by local nurseries. I actually live in a small north Georgia village, and we have a weekly farmer's market of locally grown produce. It's fabulous! We also have a farm about 30 minutes away that grows amazing produce and lots of vintage/heirloom crops, especially tomatos. I'm not speaking from simply a personal point of view. Looking at magazines and other media directed at healthy lifestyles - especially with us aging babyboomers trying to stay around longer - it isn't just myself or where I live that I'm talking about. Yes, your big chain groceries are seldom going to have the good stuff, but it can be found. And- if you research it, lots of chain stores are advertising "locally grown" produce in the summer.

I get the sense that lots of people think everyone in the USA lives on McDonalds or cheeseburgers and crappy, half-plastic garbage. No doubt many do. I don't know anyone who eats at Mc Donald's unless tied down and handcuffed. But I can guarantee that many don't eat fast food, and many are very careful and knowledgeable. Stereotypes about anyone are usually based on truth, but sometimes on old interpretations that need updating.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

May be because it is unnecessary criticism, especially their cuisine.

What's an unnecessary criticism for one person is simply the truth for another. Depends on who is on the receiving end of that criticism.

[taf2002]

It doesn't bother me that Leonova doesn't like the US. Maybe I wouldn't like Russia if I went there. It happens. But it does turn me off that she is so conceited and for very little reason IMO. And it is all too evident that she doesn't like ballet class.

[rfisher]

And it is all too evident that she doesn't like ballet class.

Bless her.

[TAHbKA]

Geez, people, how many of you took ballet classes? For figure skaters? Is there anything MORE boring?! I recall hating it for all I was worth as a kid. 2-3 hours of aimless limbs moving was mindblowingly boring and I wanted to climb the walls at the end of it.

As for not liking being in the USA - well, having a bf in Russia and level zero English what would there be to like?

[Domshabfan]

What's an unnecessary criticism for one person is simply the truth for another. Depends on who is on the receiving end of that criticism.

In most cases this is true, but criticising Italian cuisine is way to harsh... I loved real Italian cuisine when i spend nearly a month in Bologna. Even an american who was hyper critical of everything Italian, only thing she was happy about was the food.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

In most cases this is true, but criticising Italian cuisine is way to harsh... I loved real Italian cuisine when i spend nearly a month in Bologna. Even an american who was hyper critical of everything Italian, only thing she was happy about was the food.

I'm sure there are people out there in the world who aren't as enamored with Italian food (even though Italian food has has variety in ingredients and kinds of dishes depending on the region) for their own valid reasons. I'm sure my grandmother who was brought up on Vietnamese food and only really ate Vietnamese food wouldn't have liked it.

[Prancer]

I confess, as I previously wrote, that I am not a PC person, I am hopelessly opinionated, for which I apologize. Please in the future just consider every post of mine as being automatically preceded by IMHO.

I am not an idiot and know an opinion when I see one; I don't need to have an opinion labeled as such, nor do I find such a label to be particularly meaningful (it's actually one of my pet peeves, but that's another issue). Your answer is still "I don't know" and "I have no objective evidence, only my own experience," just as it was before. When I said I was interested in knowing the answer, I didn't mean I wanted more of the same, thanks, particularly since I find your experience with the US to be very limited, if not bizarre. You know people who regularly make fun of salad? How.....interesting.

Isn't it pleasant to have non-PC conversations?

Gosh - I was seeing arugula in good old southern Atlanta back in college, and I'm 63!!

Yes, I remember having it when I was young, and you couldn't get away from it in the 90s.

I guess we were just lucky.

[antmanb]

Gosh - I was seeing arugula in good old southern Atlanta back in college, and I'm 63!!

Yes, I remember having it when I was young, and you couldn't get away from it in the 90s.

I had to google arugula. I know it as rocket!

Stereotypes often take a long time to turn around. British cuisine was mostly slated the world over until maybe the last 15-20 years, bland boring food, offal, vegetables boiled to death and back again. In the 80s and before it was mostly true. My parents who moved here in the early 80s complained that they couldn't find anything worth buying in the supermarkets having been brought up on South American food crossed with Spanish/Italian influences. The only thing my mum praised was desserts and caked in the UK. But things have moved on since then.

A little like the most often repeated stereotype of British teeth.....

[Skittl1321]

I'm sure there are people out there in the world who aren't as enamored with Italian food (even though Italian food has has variety in ingredients and kinds of dishes depending on the region) for their own valid reasons.

I've heard a number of people complain they had difficulty finding dishes without seafood in them when they were in Italy (clearly this is regional- they were near the coast), so they didn't enjoy the food.

So yes, even vistors to Italy complain.

[IceAlisa]

Geez, people, how many of you took ballet classes? For figure skaters? Is there anything MORE boring?! I recall hating it for all I was worth as a kid. 2-3 hours of aimless limbs moving was mindblowingly boring and I wanted to climb the walls at the end of it.

As for not liking being in the USA - well, having a bf in Russia and level zero English what would there be to like?

I loved taking ballet. I could spend hours at the barre. Took it throughout childhood, high school and college. My favorite form of exercise.

But for figure skaters it shouldn't really matter. They HAVE to take it, if not, we have the likes of Leonova et al. There lots of things they hate doing like traveling to the US, what's a little ballet?

[elka_sk8]

It doesn't bother me that Leonova doesn't like the US. Maybe I wouldn't like Russia if I went there. It happens. But it does turn me off that she is so conceited and for very little reason IMO. And it is all too evident that she doesn't like ballet class.

I haven't read many articles about Leonova, but I hope you're drawing the conclusion that she's conceited based on more than this one interview.......I don't even really like Leonova's skating, I don't know why I am so compelled to defend her.

As for not liking being in the USA - well, having a bf in Russia and level zero English what would there be to like?

ITA.

Re: the availability of fresh food in the U.S. It is available of course (I eat very little processed food and cook myself) but if you don't have facilities to cook eating out all the time would get old really fast. Also, having been to a few places in Europe and SE Asia, I was so jealous of the daily fruit/veg markets! As a visitor I found it very easy to pick up some fresh fruit, bread, etc. on a whim. In contrast, I live in an area of the U.S. where farmers markets are plentiful, but usually limited to once a week. The grocery chains, with some exceptions of course, carry a lot of out of season crap. Whenever I move to a new place, it takes a whole to sort out where to buy the things I like and when to get them.

Don't get me started on sidewalks. Again, I currently live in an area where walking is very common, but have lived in others where the lack if sidewalks made it difficult to walk ANYWHERE.

[berthesghost]

I am not an idiot and know an opinion when I see one; I don't need to have an opinion labeled as such, nor do I find such a label to be particularly meaningful (it's actually one of my pet peeves, but that's another issue). Your answer is still "I don't know" and "I have no objective evidence, only my own experience," just as it was before. When I said I was interested in knowing the answer, I didn't mean I wanted more of the same, thanks, particularly since I find your experience with the US to be very limited, if not bizarre. You know people who regularly make fun of salad? How.....interesting.

Isn't it pleasant to have non-PC conversations?



Yes, I remember having it when I was young, and you couldn't get away from it in the 90s.

I guess we were just lucky.

the original assertion was a subjective opinion and hence both unsupportable or uncontestable in any way other than offering another subjective opinion.

First, there's the "tech mark": can "most abundant" be factually proven. Depends on the criteria. The US appears to be the third largest producer of bulk quantity of food, but only ranks around 79th in terms of ratio of land to farm.

Then there's the "artistic mark": how can one possibly prove "best" which is innately subjected. Food is in fact a judged sport, from Zagats down to the local church fair.

I get that Lenova preferred the well made home made borscht to the poorly made fast food sushi, but did get a chuckle out her trying to pass off a big bowl of starch season with fat as "healthier" than lean raw fish. Nutritionists have been debating these things for forever.