I've been thinking about the differences in how we eat in the U.S. vs. Italy. And not just what we eat, but where. In Italy, lunch is enjoyed, not rushed through or eaten at a desk. Read my latest blog entry about lunch
Where do you eat lunch? - Italian Online community - Italian forum

Martha

When I eat lunch with friends, in my home or theirs,we sit at the table and will have a pasta with meat or vegetable sauce for a starter followed by maybe a small piece of meat, fish or cheese with some cooked vegetables or some salad. That may be followed by a piece of fruit. This is accompanied by a crusty bread roll and wine or (more likely) mineral water.

Lunch is followed by a small espresso coffee made in the Moka


If I go out to lunch, as I am retired time is not an issue, so I will aim for the 1pm 'sitting'. From 12-1 is usually the 'early sitting' for those workers who only have an hour for lunch - whereas the 1pm one is for those like shop workers and anyone else who has longer...The 'everyday' meal there will be very similar to that eaten at home. That is quite different to a holiday, weekend or Festa meal...

Thank goodness these family times are still used here and the habit of sitting with a meal on a tray on your knees while watching the television is not a part of mealtimes here. It would be a tragedy if the habit of eating where there is little or no conversation became part of Italian culture. Or everyone having or expecting different meals and mealtimes - what kind of family is that going to hold together?.

Adjusting to an American way of eating was one of the hardest things I had to do in my life (before coming to the US I thought learning English or completing two masters degrees would be much harder, but it wasn't).

I'm Russian and we like Italians enjoy food and eat good meals in a nice ambiance... So this is a really tough thing for me. I try to preserve and follow at least some habits that I brought from home. I do cook and I bring lunches when I cannot go out to eat. So I eat healthy well cooked lunches at my desk. I bring things that people find exotic, such as soups, salads, liver with potatoes, buckwheat kasha etc (very infrequently sandviches). People usually sense smell and come to my office to ask what is it that I have today.

When I can I go out and I'm picky about restaurants. Today was a good Thai meal with a good company. Very enjoyable. But it is hard to "escape" from the office as it is not a part of the culture here....

Why do Americans eat the way they do? Could anybody explain to me how it evolved here. I'm just currious.