For the weekend, our group traveled to western Flanders to visit a few unique destinations. I could see France from the sand dunes at a nature reserve, we all tried our hand at land yachting (picture below, after I gave someone a push), and we wandered the city of Bruges, for a few examples. All the while, I have noticed more cultural differences and similarities. One area I have paid attention to due to the nature of our classes is the food system. The food system here has its own piece of the culture compared to the American food system.
The most annoying difference for me is that I can’t have free refills of a drink. Drinking less is more sustainable for natural resources and healthier if your drink has a lot of sugar, but it certainly challenges a habit I have developed over the years. Having a heads up, I thought I could avoid this refill dilemma with my water bottle. However, most places discourage me using my water bottle. It costs them money—water is not free! This discouragement goes against sustainability, as it requires the restaurant to go through more containers.
As many of you probably know, Europe serves food in smaller servings. The average American already eats more than they should, and fast food restaurants do a great job of increasing the serving size for us. I do not know if Europe’s smaller serving practice is because of high population density combined with arable land or not, but it’s my theory for now. This practice is also more sustainable for people: to begin monitoring their serving size, their snacking, and their food waste. When there are smaller serving sizes, there is less food waste. The USDA reports that Americans waste up to 40% of the food we produce, an economic, environmental, and social issue.
According to a social scientist that lectured, most Belgians (and Europeans overall) place a lot of weight in the welfare of the animal. Sustainability must account for the welfare of the animal, despite the increase in resources it takes. Sustainability does not only involve the environment, it must consider equity both economically and socially. In another area, Europeans seem a bit more hesitant toward GMO food (despite the surprising popularity of the Belgian Blue cattle). The United States did just pass legislature on required GMO labeling, so maybe we want to mimic Europe now that Europe is shifting toward GMO acceptance. It remains controversial in both cultures, but the younger population has started to embrace GMO technology more. One important con for organic food is the large carbon footprint and land area it requires.
The countryside here does not have the same feel as the countryside in Arkansas and Oklahoma. At no point did I feel we ever reached a pure rural countryside, as houses exist everywhere and city transportation links all the villages that link together. As my friend Seth said, “Even the countryside is compact here.” Small farms and intensive land use keep the food production going for the Belgians.
In the theme of compact space-use, the bathrooms in many places look like this:
This is yet another difference, as many Americans have a strong opinion on bathroom arrangement. As I walked around this weekend, I noticed a lack of trash cans and recycling bins. Perhaps Arkansas’s campus has spoiled me, with these utilities within sight at all times. Littering exists at about the same levels in Belgium as it does in the U.S, but they do have a stronger recycling program throughout the country.
After getting turned around in Bruges, I found that Belgians are friendly and helpful with directions. The massive church towers make navigation slightly easier, but Belgium makes up for this advantage by providing tiny, easy-to-miss signs. It evens out. I did doubt the instructions a few times from people, but we made it to the train station with at least seventeen seconds to spare.
Belgians seem to start a bit later in the morning, but they stay up later at night compared to the middle-aged American. Dogs have access to many more places, and most of the restaurants have outdoor tables to use. Despite the assignment requesting us to note differences for these blogs, I feel that it is important to list similarities, to remember our shared humanity. The similarity here being that an average Belgian day is not much different than an average American day, coffee is abundant for people heading to work, the people love dogs, and restaurants want to provide whatever gets them customers. Listing all the similarities does not work as easily as differences, as there are many more similarities than differences.
Overall, the culture has a more progressive political ideology, the style appears more proper, and the people are a bit shyer. Conversation, while not easily engaged, is less superficial with Belgians as they want to get more to the point. In many ways, Belgium has been a breath of fresh air. As I have said before, traveling teaches lessons not found in a classroom. In this case, traveling makes me notice reasons to be grateful for where I live, as well as to remain grateful for the many opportunities
I have received in the few years I have lived.
--
Biological Engineering major Kendrick studied abroad with our U of A Faculty-Led: Sustainability in the Euro Food System program.
Read more from Kendrick at https://kendrickchardaway.wordpress.com/
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
As many of you probably know, Europe serves food in smaller servings. The average American already eats more than they should, and fast food restaurants do a great job of increasing the serving size for us. I do not know if Europe’s smaller serving practice is because of high population density combined with arable land or not, but it’s my theory for now. This practice is also more sustainable for people: to begin monitoring their serving size, their snacking, and their food waste. When there are smaller serving sizes, there is less food waste. The USDA reports that Americans waste up to 40% of the food we produce, an economic, environmental, and social issue.
According to a social scientist that lectured, most Belgians (and Europeans overall) place a lot of weight in the welfare of the animal. Sustainability must account for the welfare of the animal, despite the increase in resources it takes. Sustainability does not only involve the environment, it must consider equity both economically and socially. In another area, Europeans seem a bit more hesitant toward GMO food (despite the surprising popularity of the Belgian Blue cattle). The United States did just pass legislature on required GMO labeling, so maybe we want to mimic Europe now that Europe is shifting toward GMO acceptance. It remains controversial in both cultures, but the younger population has started to embrace GMO technology more. One important con for organic food is the large carbon footprint and land area it requires.
The countryside here does not have the same feel as the countryside in Arkansas and Oklahoma. At no point did I feel we ever reached a pure rural countryside, as houses exist everywhere and city transportation links all the villages that link together. As my friend Seth said, “Even the countryside is compact here.” Small farms and intensive land use keep the food production going for the Belgians.
In the theme of compact space-use, the bathrooms in many places look like this:
This is yet another difference, as many Americans have a strong opinion on bathroom arrangement. As I walked around this weekend, I noticed a lack of trash cans and recycling bins. Perhaps Arkansas’s campus has spoiled me, with these utilities within sight at all times. Littering exists at about the same levels in Belgium as it does in the U.S, but they do have a stronger recycling program throughout the country.
After getting turned around in Bruges, I found that Belgians are friendly and helpful with directions. The massive church towers make navigation slightly easier, but Belgium makes up for this advantage by providing tiny, easy-to-miss signs. It evens out. I did doubt the instructions a few times from people, but we made it to the train station with at least seventeen seconds to spare.
Belgians seem to start a bit later in the morning, but they stay up later at night compared to the middle-aged American. Dogs have access to many more places, and most of the restaurants have outdoor tables to use. Despite the assignment requesting us to note differences for these blogs, I feel that it is important to list similarities, to remember our shared humanity. The similarity here being that an average Belgian day is not much different than an average American day, coffee is abundant for people heading to work, the people love dogs, and restaurants want to provide whatever gets them customers. Listing all the similarities does not work as easily as differences, as there are many more similarities than differences.
Overall, the culture has a more progressive political ideology, the style appears more proper, and the people are a bit shyer. Conversation, while not easily engaged, is less superficial with Belgians as they want to get more to the point. In many ways, Belgium has been a breath of fresh air. As I have said before, traveling teaches lessons not found in a classroom. In this case, traveling makes me notice reasons to be grateful for where I live, as well as to remain grateful for the many opportunities
I have received in the few years I have lived.
--
Biological Engineering major Kendrick studied abroad with our U of A Faculty-Led: Sustainability in the Euro Food System program.
Read more from Kendrick at https://kendrickchardaway.wordpress.com/
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
