Could you imagine going to a foreign country and eating American cuisine? Dining on burgers, barbeque ribs and fried chicken. Sound ridiculous? In Amie Van Overmeer’s Feb. 27 column titled “Spanish food pretty good if it doesn’t kill you,” she criticizes not only Spanish food, but also their culture by hinting that Spaniards are dirty and unclean by saying that “Spaniards also don’t seem to have the same level of germ phobia that runs rampant with Americans.”She has a harsh opinion of their cuisine by claiming that it has too much meat and is too fresh. Too fresh? Correct me if I’m wrong, but when has fresh been bad? When was the last time you had a salad? Was it terrible because it was fresh? I am a Chinese-American and have grown up with freshly made delicacies. I’m truly sorry, Ms. Van Overmeer, if other cultures’ food is not as preserved as yours. It’s sickening how Hy-Vee or Cub Foods sell all those fresh vegetables or meats. How dare they! If you are visiting a foreign country to expand your horizons, you should never take an ethnocentric view towards that country. Imagine having a foreign person visit the United States and complaining about the hordes of fast food restaurants or the lack of freshness in American cuisine. What would your comment be to that person? “If you don’t like it, go back to where you came from,” maybe? Well, Amie, come back to America because all the prepared foods stuffed with preservatives are plentiful over here.David Lee

Freshman

Computer science