If you’ve read more than one of my articles, you probably know by now that I love American food. There’s no such thing as the “best” food anywhere, but my nation’s cuisine has a unique identity that speaks of its multi-ethnic heritage, its grit, and its ingenuity.

With that being said, American food isn’t without its flaws. There are some things I wish I could fix up in our food culture. Here is a list of what I consider the best and worst parts of American food culture.

The Worst Parts of American Food Culture

Stunt Food

Stunt food refers to novelty food items characterized by excessive size, outrageous ingredients, or unconventional combinations. These foods are typically created for promotional purposes or to generate buzz on social media rather than for their actual culinary merit. Whether it’s a sandwich so big that Scooby Doo could have made it, the weird habit of smothering everything in nacho cheese, or the pretentious idea of dropping caviar places where it totally doesn’t belong (like on a burger? seriously?) stunt food captures tons of attention, but delivers woefully disappointing results.

• If I’m happy with this awesome plate of nachos, I’ll be happier with a platter of nachos!
• You know what this classic burger on a spongy brioche really needs? Caviar!
• Oh thank you chef, I’m so glad you poured melted cheese all over my sandwich. Now it’s pointlessly indulgent and hard to eat!

These trends contribute to unhealthy eating habits, as it often leads to overeating and excessive calorie intake. Moreover, the normalization of supersized portions can distort individuals' perceptions of appropriate serving sizes, making it challenging to maintain a balanced diet and healthy weight.

While stunt foods may attract attention and temporarily boost sales, they often prioritize shock value over taste and nutritional quality. Additionally, the marketing of these extreme food creations can perpetuate unhealthy eating habits and contribute to a culture of food excess and indulgence.

Overconsumption of Processed Food

How to make Italian food: “If you don’t live in the southern region of Parma, then don’t even bother with this recipe. You must start with the juice of the grape of the tree which has been fertilized by the manure of a breed of goat that has been cared for by my family for twelve generations.”

How to make Iraqi food: “Whisk an egg, being careful not to oversaturate the—you idiot! It’s been ruined! Get out of my kitchen!”

How to make American food: “First you’re going to take some Old El Paso™ taco seasoning and mix it with Sriracha™. This is the perfect sauce to go with your Hamburger Helper™. And it’ll be the best blend of creamy and spicy if you add Philadelphia™ cream cheese and just a bit of Tabasco™!

Y’all, why do we focus so much on the brands we affiliate with? Why do we advertise them on our t-shirts? Why do we make them the central focus of so many recipes???

We suffer from widespread reliance on pre-packaged, convenience-oriented products that are often full of unhealthy crap. But more than that, our brand obsession cripples our ability to learn, our creativity, and the potential of our food to be as great as it could be.

We Pretend American Food Is Worse Than It Really Is

A lot of the world looks at American food as inferior. Many consider it inherently unhealthy and wholly unsophisticated.

If you are not American, I completely understand this complaint. You may have never had real American food, so your only representation of it is what you’ve seen in Western media. But if you’re actually from the U.S. and you constantly berate it for being inferior to European food… congrats, you’re just an elitist snob who clearly doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

Some American foods are genuine American innovations (such as the hamburger—yes I will die on this hill). Other American foods are such creative takes on ethnic dishes that they have become ingrained into the identity of America.

American pizza is amazing. Put a Chicago deep dish, a New York thin crust, and a traditional Napolitan (Italian) pizza into a cage fight and let them duke it out. Guess who wins…? They all do! Seriously, they’re all delicious! And you’re allowed to like all of them without betraying your distant Italian ancestors or incurring the wrath of some Italian from TikTok.

American food encompasses a diverse range of regional cuisines, culinary traditions, and innovative chefs. We have a rich culinary heritage and innovative identity that, believe it or not, has given some of our dishes a global appeal.

The Best Parts of American Food Culture

Now that all that’s off my chest, let’s talk about why American food is actually quite amazing. It’s not the best food in the world—because there’s no such thing—but it’s my food and the food of my heritage, so there are several reasons I love it. Here are the best three reasons I have:

Ethnic Diversity

We live in a global community, and just about every country in the world has their own favorite kind of ethnic food. Chile has a surprising undercurrent of German food, but they also love Chinese restaurants and American eateries. Dutch food is known for its heavy influence by Indonesian cooking—in fact, Indonesian satay sauce is to them what ketchup is to Americans. One of the most influential dishes in the United Kingdom is Garam Masala, which believe it or not isn’t actually Indian. They just love Indian food so much that they invented a food inspired by it.

But you know who is the king of ethnic diversity? America, baby.

Want to visit a Mexican-Korean taco stand this weekend? We’ve got you covered. How about a county-wide spaghetti and meatballs competition? Coming next month. Sure, France may have invented macaroni and cheese, but we perfected it! Just last week I had a debate with coworkers over whether to grab Japanese or Greek food for lunch.

You might find this kind of diversity in tourist-heavy regions or extremely affluent areas in foreign countries, but in many parts of the U.S. it’s just our day-to-day life.

Regional Specialties

There are few things I love more than exploring America’s regional cooking at snail’s pace. Every country in the world has regional dishes, but this is my country, and I love some of our niche delights. Here are a few fun ones off the top of my head…

• Collard greens with shrimp and grits
• Manhattan-style square-cut pizza pie
• Funeral potatoes, jello salad, and chicken-broccoli casserole

Barbecue, Burgers and Biscuits

Regional dishes aside, we have some incredible dishes the whole world needs to try.

Nothing beats American-style barbecue. Barbecue has been prevalent in the United States since its inception—Spanish explorers first learned about it from Native Americans, and then they brought it home and popularized it in parts of Europe. They then brought it back to the Americas with the pilgrims and enjoyed it once again with the country’s native inhabitants. It is entirely likely that the first Thanksgiving was some sort of barbecue. In fact, George Washington was a known barbecue fanatic, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the signing of the Declaration of Independence was accompanied with some show-stopping ‘cue!

Barbecue is a regional specialty all across the U.S. Texas is commonly divided into four distinct regions with different barbecue philosophies, while Oklahoma, the Carolinas, and the Midwest each have their own specialties as well. Barbecue is part of the American bloodline.

This is just a scant couple of paragraphs on barbecue, but I could have written an entire article on it. And don’t even get me started on burgers and biscuits! I mean sure, the Hamburg steak was a thing in Germany once… eaten over rice with some beef gravy… boring! We took that wimpy piece of meat and made it one of the most recognizable dishes in the world.

And biscuits? My wife and I spent four years trying to find the best biscuit in Utah. I finally found it at a small chain in American Fork before they went out of business. However, the owner told me that his secret was coating them in egg white before baking them. Biscuits are a symbol of Southern food and their immense culinary heritage.