donuts, not jiaozi, rule

soft power is vast

Back in the old days when I was a student in London, British seemed razor thin because they ate a pretty modest diet. The place I lived only served fresh vegetables on Sundays: salad with greens (no such things as peppers, onions, or even tomatoes). No other goopy stuff or fillers, just greens called ‘rocket’. I seriously doubt 10% of the population had seen an avocado, much less consumed one.

For years I asked British friends if they ever consumed a raw carrot as the ones I encountered seemed brutalised by overboiling, compared to our raw grated carrots common on our side of the pond. People talked about mushy peas because many peas eaten at meals were….mushy peas. Bread was dry and listless as there were few bakeries; most seemed commercial loaves of sliced stuff that was pretty awful (not that wonderbread here was a prize, if you remember it). I thought most calories were consumed as beer ( I supposed that part really has remained somewhat constant for people in their early 20s).

A guy I knew well had spent a bit of time on an oil rig in the North Sea as a geologist. What he most loved about that experience—and one of the few things he loved about American culture—was that we had introduced donuts to his life. He would wax on about a good glazed donut. It was amazing. When I spoke with other folks unsullied by time on the rig, they didn’t really have a clue about donuts except it was yet one more peculiarity of the American culture that probably made us fat (this was forty plus years ago so ‘fat’ was so relative—such a halycon period). I often got a lecture about one more horrible thing Americans were forcing on the world, yadda yadda yadda.

Today’s staid New York Times actually notes that Parisians, yes French folks, are now swallowing warm donuts as a sign of desirable, satiating food. Wait, what did I type? Parisians eating donuts. (Cynthia, are you sure this was not The Onion?) They are, in particular, eating Krispy Kremes which many here believe are far superior to plain old Dunkin’ Donuts, a brand which sprouts up around the national capital area of the United States like defense contractors sniffing budget scraps.

The amazing part to me, however, is that Britain today is infused with donut establishments as well. In our limited exploration of the region surrounding Lord Nelson’s Square, we saw donuts all over. The Christmas market on the Lord Nelson Square had a donut stall at the end (with admittedly gorgeous, if exotic, looking specimens of which we did not partake); similarly, the pop up market several blocks away at Leicester Square also had a huge selection of them. The streets along the entry to Convent Garden had donut shops (rather than shoppes). The aisles at Tesco and M&S food halls had their own pretty admirable selections. Oh, and venerable Charing Cross and Victoria train stations had multiple donut establishments.

Donuts are finger food, of course, which makes them particularly appealing for a city now seemingly on the run from 0700 until late in the evening. That is certainly a possible incentive for these places.

Additionally, as low brow as they are, donuts are yet another form of soft power. How many Chinese take aways did I see at these markets? On the streets? In the Tesco as I searched for something to munch on the one evening we did not dine out? None. I saw a Chinese place or two (outside Chinatown, of course) on the Strand but, as my husband noted, central London is extremely dense. That density did not include a raft of Chinese food options now embedded in the culture as donuts appear hunkering down.

How about borscht shops to show Vlad the Impaler’s soft power via food? No, his power is perhaps in vodka but not in finger food eaten by 3 year olds or 83 year olds. I did not see the average Londoner or tourista savouring cups of borscht. That isn’t because they don’t want around with cups in their hands; I was surprised how ubiquitous our coffee habit as people charge down the street is in the land of tea drinkers. Of course British have always enjoyed coffee as well but coffee is now a common drink even among older British who might be prone to eschew non-traditional behaviours. Starbucks itself isn’t on every street corner as it is in urban America but some coffee venue certainly is.

Soft power often ranks a lesser important link between nations but we forget how valuable its role in reinforcing relationships. A Britain dedicated today to forging a new relationship, yet still a bit undefined, with Europe is not hesitant to embrace other traditions that two generations ago seemed anathema. Traditionalists in the 1970s or 80s reminded Brits of their ‘tea-loving’ roots while today it appears that coffee and links to the Americans at least as much as to the Raj and the Subcontinent are rising.

The power of donuts is not all positive as it fits squarely into Britain’s increased proclivity towards huge portions and sweeter indulgences than in the past. I could not help but notice how similarly Britons and their American ‘cousins’ are now in their eating, another indicator of our soft power as U.S. food enterprises and our television/movies appear in daily life. We are so analogous in so many aspects of daily life, even when nationalists meltdown about how badly Meghan treats Harry or the U.S. does not appreciate Britain’s contributions to AUKUS.

Can this all change again as it’s changed since I heard British acquaintances taunt me about my eating habits in the 1970s? Of course. But the persuasiveness of soft power across Europe (remember the French and Krispy Kreme, s’il vous plait) makes me expect that the compromises we can’t find in our own politix are actuallyappearing in French, British, German, Dutch, Spanish, and European desires to be consume calories as the Yanks do in food and other ‘minor’ aspects of soft power. Not hot (or cold) borscht, Vlad, nor donkey jiaozi (dumplings), Xi Jinping. Food probably links us more than we realise, even with the long-term costs and effects that has for us as individuals or for the climate around the world as we continue dramatically altering traditional consumption patterns. But, we are winning so that is a good thing, no?

Thoughts about soft power you have seen at work in our trans-Atlantic world interest us all so please bring them forward. You may think I am nuts so tell us! What else do you think we ought be focusing on for the future? I am genuinely keen to hear.

I welcome all thoughts as I welcome all of you daily in Actions Create Consequences. I especially appreciate you circulating my thoughts and contributing financially, if you are so moved. Most of all, I hope we are expanding civil discourse in a world desperately needing more talk and less conflict in so many places.

It was a beautiful Annapolis morning. I am so lucky to see this and I hope you enjoy it.

Be well and be safe. FIN

Liz Alderman, ‘Hot Glazed Donughnuts on the Menu, and Parisians Can’t Get Enough of Them’, nytimes.com, 7 December 2023, retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/business/krispy-kreme-paris-fast-food.html