European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 06, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Americano eating a meeting of minds by Boyce Rensberger new York times americans observe some of the most Curi Ous dietary customs in the world. Although most people around the world regard bread As l the staff of life or consider a meal to be invade ate without Rice americans disagree and generally hold that a proper meal must contain a sub Stantial portion of animal flesh. Among the most highly prize forms of this flesh is the Psoas muscle of a castrated Bull otherwise known As filet mignon. Then there is Escargot. Americans will Send All the Way to France for the imported kind but Spray pesticides to rid their gardens of the identical species of Snail Helix Ashcra which is common in the United states. And there is the strange american ambivalence about fat. Greek and other Middle Eastern cuisines with their Oil based dishes Are often shunned As undesirably Greasy a when in fact the average american diet contains far More fat than any other in the world except for those of eskimos and finns. By far the most extraordinary thing about the american Way of eating in the Opl non of nutritionists who study dietary patterns around the world Isth vast Quantity of meat consumed beef in Partlou Lar. Americans eat More meat per capita than do the Citi Zens of any european country. Higher Rales of meat con ssssf1 i St Only in new zealand Australia let by counties dominated by a raring lands that make meat plentiful and cheap. 55- ??eakfrilte3 May americans As,., obviously desirable and As american As Apple pie the carnivorous behaviour of . Citizens  in o10T Post world War ii Ristin Burss become the object of scholarly study As Burtris hindus who ?12 Favoron Tsai Wjk  vast grasslands of North ameriss0lsj become part of the american legend of cowboys an cattle drives. Cattle grazing on the vast Plains of the West on land mostly unsuitable for other agricultural use practically raised themselves providing a ready Supply of meat that in the View of Many tastes Best when cooked with Little or no  consumption figures for the 19th Century Are non existent or unreliable but it is Clear from department of agriculture records beginning just after the turn of the Century that americans were then eating 60 to 65 pounds of beef a person every year. This amount More meat than most people in the world consume today would Supply All the protein needs of an average adult. But at that same time americans were also eating about 65 pounds of pork and 16 pounds of Poul try meat annually. Beef consumption in this Century held fairly Stead until about 1950. When it began to soar. It nearly doubled reaching 116 pounds a year by 1972.surprisingly, pork consumption which began the Cen Tury equal to beef at 65 pounds a year has remained con Stant despite the surge in beef eating. Poultry eating began to grow in the 1940s, from 16 pounds a year to about50 pounds by the 1970s. 1kg? ? h to poultry eating has been linked tothe fall of Chicken As a High status food. For millions of americans sunday dinner once meant Chicken and it was special. Gradually however Chicken 8 it a parallel growth in the Market for Frozen Onni helped by providing a Market for Frost damaged or Wise unsaleable fruit. This minimized the risks at to the stars and stripes