Well Put

This is a picture from the Huffington Post. The accompanying article quotes British food critic, Matthew Fort. Matthew says eloquently what I wish I had written about the Italian burger now featured at some McDonalds restaurants in Italy. The burger is called the "McItaly," and it's made with Italian ingredients. In defense of Italian culture, The Post quotes Matthew as describing the burger as, "a monstrous act of national betrayal," and giving this denunciation:

For many Italians, their very sense of identity lies in the food, not just of the region in which they were born, but of the town, village, hamlet, even house. And they hold to the superiority of their local produce and dishes with passion. That is why eating your way round Italy is such a continual delight. Pleasure lies in diversity, not homogeneity. Who wants to eat the same stuff the whole world over? It's boring. It's the kind of global mind-numbing sameness and taste bud-mugging mediocrity that McDonald's embodies. No-one in their right mind can see McDonald's as either a force for good in the world or as representing the sunny uplands of gastronomy.

Pretty good dressing-down, don't you think?