Food fuel or pleasure

Dialog.

Food: fuel or pleasure?

Alice Freeman is a lawyer from San Francisco.

Is food a pleasure for you?

Not really. I enjoy certain kinds of food but most meals are just fuel to keep me going through the day.

What do you normally eat in a typical day?

I usually have a bowl of cereal or toast for breakfast. For lunch I eat at a restaurant near my office. I prefer Japanese or Indian food. I usually eat rice with fish and vegetables, soup or sushi. I don’t eat meat, but I eat a lot or fish. In the evening, I just have something light at home.

Do you ever cook?

Not very often. I don’t have the time or talent to cook full meals. I usually heat up a frozen meal or order a takeaway.

Do you ever eat unhealthy food?

Sometimes I get fast food for lunch. I have to admit that I love French fries. I feel terrible about it afterwards, but I don’t do it very often.

Are you trying to cut down on anything at the moment?

I am trying to cut down on the amount of fat I eat. I’m also trying to eat more wholemeal bread.

Are people’s diet in your country getting better or worse?

I think people are trying to improve their diets, but they are doing it the wrong way by following diets like the Atkins diet. Personally, I don’t thinks it’s very healthy to cut out entire groups of foods like carbohydrates.

Jacqueline Fable is an IT consultant from Lyons.

Is food a pleasure for you?

Yes, definitely. For me good meals with the family make me happy.

What do you normally eat in a typical day?

I’m quite traditional and I have three main meals a day. For breakfast, I like hot chocolate, and bread and butter with honey or jam. For lunch, I often eat in a restaurant with my colleagues. I usually have vegetables and meat or fish but I love pasta and rice too. In the afternoon , I have fruit with biscuits or a piece of chocolate. In the evening. I have a proper meal with my family.

Do you ever cook?

Yes, I cook every evening for my family. I often make soup or traditional French dishes like ‘boeuf bourguignon’, which is a kind of beef and red wine stew, and then we have cheese and salad. It may seem a lot but we don’t eat big portions. What’s important for me is quality, not quantity.

Do you ever eat unhealthy food?

Not at home. I think most of the food I cook is healthy, but occasionally when I eat out I have something unhealthy, but it doesn’t worry me.

Are you trying to cut down on anything at the moment?

Yes, I’m trying to eat less chocolate.

Are people’s diet in your country getting better or worse?

I think people’s diets are getting worse and worse. It’s quite strange because we have a lot of information now about how bad fast food is for you I’m afraid it’s a problem in a lot of European countries.