Big Macs and Macarons: Lessons from a French McDonald’s
This article was originally published by the New York University chapter, in Edition 001.
Champs-Élysées, one of the main streets going through the heart of Paris, is best known for its luxury shopping, expensive real estate, and historic landmarks. But hidden between the flagship Louis Vuitton store and the imposing Arc de Triomphe is none other than a McDonald’s, but not just any McDonald’s–the most successful one in the world [3].
This McDonald’s, perhaps, is the epitome of fast food’s emergence in France. Since the 1980s, such restaurants have slowly been on the rise, and the country is home to over 1,400 McDonald’s restaurants, ranking fourth for countries worldwide [1]. It has become integrated into the city’s fabric and even been nicknamed “McDo” for short by locals–and yes, they do serve macarons. In a country known for its rich culinary traditions, the convenience and prices offered by restaurant chains like McDonald’s have been hesitantly welcomed and eventually embraced. Yet despite its infamous fast food reputation, McDonald’s in France has simultaneously differentiated itself. While the French McDonald’s is recognized by the same name and iconic golden arches as its American counterpart, it is very much its own independent restaurant chain that has adapted to the surrounding environment.
As a study abroad student in Paris, my knee-jerk reaction to the sight of a McDonald’s on the corner of Boulevard St. Germain during my daily walk to classes was to swear that I would never eat there–I didn’t come to Paris to eat American cheeseburgers, I thought. But here’s the thing: French cheeseburgers are not like American cheeseburgers. In fact, most of the food at a French McDonald’s I found to be drastically different from what I had experienced in the US. The quality, portion sizes, new menu items and flavors, were a welcome surprise, and I developed an appreciation for the French way of doing this fast food thing. What causes these stark differences between the same brand in two countries? I found two main reasons: food culture and food environment.
“Food culture” refers to the attitudes and common practices surrounding food in a given society. For example, in France, portion sizes, length of meal times, and snacking habits contrast drastically with what’s considered culturally acceptable in the US [9]. A study by Knowlton (2007) describes how “most Americans would have to think back to the 1970’s in order to remember a time when it was not common to snack all day,” whereas meal times are very respected in France. Also in France, there is a greater knowledge of and appreciation for cooking with fresh ingredients, something that is lacking in the US [2]. However, while these differences in norms may seem minute, they have the potential to drastically alter health outcomes. Indeed, studies have shown that practices like consuming home cooked meals are associated with healthier lifestyles and lower BMIs [6]. In this way, many aspects of French culture are naturally more conducive to a healthier lifestyle.
In addition to “food culture,” the “food environments,” or the physical availability of different types of food, in the US and France vary drastically. Low-income areas and cities in the US are particularly infamous for the high density of fast food restaurants [9]. This convenience, in addition to the affordability they offer for poverty-stricken areas, has transformed the choice to eat fast food into a regular habit for many Americans. However, this occurrence largely contrasts with Paris, with over 80 farmer’s markets that happen year-round on a weekly basis, which assist in making the consumption of fresh produce much more accessible and inexpensive to inhabitants [8]. Furthermore, there is also a higher frequency of healthy food outlets–instead of a corner store, packed from top to bottom with chips and sodas, there is almost always a small grocery store with fresh produce within a five minute walk. Even the “unhealthy” restaurants are not as nutritionally lacking as they are in the US. The French food environment, therefore, is more advantageous in sustaining a healthy lifestyle compared to cities like New York City in the US, creating vastly different opportunities for inhabitants to achieve a healthy lifestyle.
The combination of these two concepts–as well as the legislation that is associated with them–produces different quality food options in France compared to the US. Not only is fast food quite simply more prevalent in the US than in France, but it is also bigger, denser, and unhealthier. A Big Mac in France, for instance, has 504 calories, 27 grams of protein, and on average weighs 218 grams [4]. On the other hand, A Big Mac in the US has 590 calories, 25 grams of protein, and weighs 240 grams [5]. Although these differences may appear slight, they demonstrate how cultural standards for a product that should technically be the same (as they are both titled “Big Mac”) can influence nutritional value in either a positive or negative manner. The French McDonald’s menu also has a salad menu that’s lacking in the US and an entirely added section called “Petites Formules” (or “small formulas”), which includes miniature versions of almost the entire menu [4]. These changes demonstrate how McDonald’s seeks to cater itself for a French audience that is accustomed to smaller portions and healthier alternatives. During my own time in Paris, they even released a limited edition “Veggie Fry” in addition to the classic potato fries. I can attest from personal experience that they indeed made an assortment of beets, parsnips, and carrots a delightful treat. If only, I wondered, McDonald’s would introduce such menu items and have such nutrition standards in the US. Perhaps then the plight of the American population in its battle against obesity would be slightly more hopeful instead of feeling downright impossible.
As of now, however, with obesity and other serious health conditions on the rise, food intake and nutrition is a problem that we must imminently address as a nation. While we cannot change the food culture or environment with a snap of our fingers, we can implement legislation that will help people make healthier food choices and improve public health. France, for example, has a “NutriScore” rating system that tells the consumer how nutritious an item is on a scale from A (best) to E (worst) [7]. What if the US had such a system? What if consumers knew that the hotdogs they just placed in their cart were rated D on a nutrition scale? Maybe, like myself grocery shopping in Paris, they would be more informed and cognizant of their choices and decide to pick an item with a healthier rating. Issues like obesity may seem impossible to tackle, but once we face the issue and begin implementing legislation that requires companies like McDonald’s to be held accountable for the food they are serving to millions of people every day, then slowly but surely the food culture and environment will truly change and impact Americans for the better.
Works Cited
- Cook, R. (2023, December 26). Ranking of countries with the most McDonald’s. Beef2Live. https://beef2live.com/story-ranking-countries-mcdonalds-0-215404
- Knowlton, Laura (2007). Reading American Fat in France: Obesity and Food Culture. European Journal of American Studies, 2–2, https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/1363.
- Marcus, L. (2016, March 14). The World’s Most Popular McDonald’s Is Now Also the Most Stylish. Condé Nast Traveler. https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-03-14/the-worlds-most-popular-mcdonalds-is-now-also-the-most-stylish.
- McDonald’s France. (n.d.). Burger Big MacTM | McDonald’s France. McDonald’s. https://www.mcdonalds.fr/nos-produits/nos-burgers/big-mac
- McDonald’s US. (n.d.). McDonald’s Nutrition Calculator: Calories and more | McDonald’s. McDonald’s. https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html
- Mills, S., Brown, H., Wrieden, W. et al. Frequency of eating home cooked meals and potential benefits for diet and health: cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 14, 109 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0567-y.
- Nutri-Score. (n.d.). Santé Publique France. www.santepubliquefrance.fr. https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/en/nutri-score.
- Paris Open Air Food Markets. (n.d.). Paris Perfect. https://www.parisperfect.com/plan-your-trip/things-to-see/markets/paris-food-markets.php.
- Powell, L. H., Kazlauskaite, R., Shima, C., & Appelhans, B. M. (2010). Lifestyle in France and the United States: an American perspective. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 110(6), 845–847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2010.03.029
- Rundle, A., Neckerman, K. M., Freeman, L., Lovasi, G. S., Purciel, M., Quinn, J., Richards, C., Sircar, N., & Weiss, C. (2009). Neighborhood Food Environment and Walkability Predict Obesity in New York City. Environmental Health Perspectives, 117(3), 442–447. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472610
