The young man in Manila ordered a Spamburger and a side of
Caesar salad with Spam. A victim of American global marketing, he
was eating at the world’s first Spam restaurant, Spamjam.
And I find it disgusting. Mainly because Spam is the Ann Coulter
of meat products, but also because this restaurant is in the
Philippines, a country where people consume nearly 2.75 million
pounds of Spam each year.
After having recently thrown off the shackles of American
altruism, Filipinos don’t need to be ruthlessly subjugated
again by a flood of unknown meat products.
But Spam, made by Hormel Foods Corporation, is a small player in
this grand game of subjugation. Everyone’s joining in.
Coca-Cola, the infamous offspring of drugs and carbon dioxide,
has also wormed its way into foreign markets. Once there, the worm
metamorphosed into an ugly moth, wreaking havoc in almost 200
countries.
Now over 70 percent of Coke’s income is from foreigners,
who worship the moth infestation.
Another obvious culprit is McDonald’s. On a dreary day in
1994, the opening day of the first McDonald’s in Kuwait City,
Kuwait, over 15,000 customers flooded the place, and the drive-thru
line stretched for seven miles.
Our protagonist in Manila chews thoughtfully on his Spamburger
for a few seconds, then asks, “But why is all this such a big
deal if we foreigners like American foods so much?”
Because it’s not healthy for your country. As American
food companies emaciate foreign competitors, the foods they
distribute gorge the populace on fats and sugars they aren’t
used to.
There are many warning signs for foreign countries contemplating
buying American sodas and fries.
Obesity is the second-leading preventable cause of death in the
United States, and almost two-thirds of all Americans are
overweight, a figure that has been increasing for decades.
Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for these diseases:
Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis,
cancer, carpal tunnel syndrome, gallbladder disease, gout,
hypertensions, infertility, pancreatitis, sleep apnea, stroke and
urinary stress incontinence.
In fewer words, fat is unhealthy, and Americans have it.
However, this is not strictly an American problem. In a trend
that seems to unashamedly follow the globalization of American
foods, the globalization of obesity is on the rise.
This increase in global obesity also happens to be linked to
urbanization and economic development, another product the United
States seems fond of exporting.
But all these economic and social side effects of the United
States exporting food products cannot be blamed on the companies
themselves. After all, companies don’t kill people, people
kill people.
Still chewing thoughtfully, the man asks, “Well then, what
can we do about this terrible invasion by foreigners?”
The key is to decrease the profitability of foreign ventures for
American fat. In other words, don’t eat a lot of junk
food.
And those of us who live in the United States have a job, too.
Tell your friends here and abroad that unhealthy foods are
unhealthy.
This is more real for the people of these countries than most
realize. American exports are affecting their health, their
economies and their cultures. This is no sensationalized story.
Speaking of storybooks, we end at the beginning, with the
Spamburger man.
He’s not worried about whether imported Spam is good for
the Filipino economy. He’s not worried about whether it could
erode his culture. He’s not even worried about the ethical
treatment of baby Spams.
But he should be.
Yes, he ordered a Spamburger. He ordered what seemed like a
perfectly innocent, harmless Spamburger.
Schenck is a first-year pre-communication studies student.
E-mail him at jschenck@media.ucla.edu.