My fascination with American imported food has taken off recently, mostly due to the increase of shops selling these products. Naturally, London has a plethora of these shops, my favourite of which is the Cyber Candy chain. On a recent trip to London, I visited the Camden chain and made a few purchases. The next day, on a trip to Brighton, I stumbled across another of these shops, Hardy's, and bought a few more bits and bobs to keep my sugar levels up and my nostalgic fibres happy.
A few days later, a trip to Tunbridge Wells revealed at least three shops within the town centre where you can get hold of Lucky Charms, Froot Loops and other American goodies (if you're willing to pay the price). Whilst the trips to the shops in London and Brighton excited me, the number of American food retailers in Tunbridge Wells saddened me.
It took me a while to suss out why this made me sad, until I realised that it was several fold. What was once a rarity - the joy of finding my favourite, mainly unobtainable foods - is now occurring in every town. Not only does this mean that the novelty is wearing off, but it also means that they are becoming accessible to more people. Perhaps it's selfish, but I remember, with a bizarre sense of nostalgia, the days when you could talk about Lucky Charms in the UK, and very few people would know what they are, mainly only people who had visited the USA themselves. Somehow having everyone discussing these foods makes them less special, and as they are some of the fondest culinary memories of my childhood, I resent this.
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