The underlying principle of healthy eating & living is following a European lifestyle: Eat high-quality food in smaller portions and spend more time enjoying life. That is the one small change we can all start with that would have a major impact. Everything that was written about healthy eating did not cover the full spectrum of healthy living. This triggered Ahbonbon’s inspiration in 2010.
European Lifestyle
In 2010, Ahbonbon’s founder, Lynn Dangtu, boarded an Air France flight departing from Los Angeles for Paris. While spending eleven hours inside the plane, she started playing a guessing game by identifying American vs. European passengers. It made her wonder and ask herself why there was such a big physical difference between the two groups. Growing up in Europe, she was familiar with the European lifestyle and food quality. She began analyzing and comparing the two worlds to identify the factors that cause Americans to be fat and sick. Her conclusion was: hidden toxins, food quality, and lifestyle. This triggered the idea of Ahbonbon publishing books to point out real facts and knowledge to help people live a healthier life.
Recipes of the World
Having lived in five countries and traveled the world, Dangtu has collected thousands of recipes since she was ten. Her hobbies include development of healthier versions of these recipes and reading about nutrition and research data on healthy living topics.
As a result, Ahbonbon published its first two books: Food Made at Home and Worldly Home Cooking. They provide the homemade versions of store-bought foods or pastries. Having an extensive background in entrepreneurship and small-business startup, Ahbonbon incorporated some of the chapters from the first two books into a new entrepreneurship book Success Begins at Home.
Fast Food Invaded Europe
Unfortunately, six years later the American fast-food epidemic had invaded Europe when Dangtu came back to study the food supply in Europe. She began seeing many processed foods at European supermarkets with preservatives and chemicals. McDonalds’ presence was everywhere including train stations and shopping districts. The majority of prime-time advertisements on French television were from American food corporations: McDonald, KFC, Coke, and junk food. Many French were now obese, especially the young generation who loved everything about America. Amazon was selling American-made junk food to those who miss eating them in France. However, the older generations were still resisting American fast food and junk food as France has many artisan bakeries. They sold freshly-made sandwiches made from French baguette and rotisserie chicken or delicious local ham and cheese for $6, a better alternative to American hamburgers and fried chicken.
Food Crisis in America
American lifestyle and taste buds have been changed and dictated by food corporations, switching from high-quality homemade meals to more convenient, cheaper processed food alternatives.
Americans are bombarded with advertising and would consume whatever food corporations put in front of them: inexpensive, big portions, and convenient foods. However, these foods come with hidden toxins, GMOs, salt, sugar, chemicals, trans fats and preservatives for longer shelf life, and cheap fillers or lower-quality raw materials. For example, more sugar is added to processed food because sugar is addictive and makes people crave more food and larger portions. The super-sized fast food was invented by American food corporations. A single serving at some restaurants in America would feed a family of four in Europe.
Finally, raw food materials are imported from China because they are less expensive, but the Chinese food supply tends to be contaminated with toxins and pesticides. In short, American food corporations no longer produce the same high-quality food they used to do in the good old days. They have now turned into scientific laboratories to engineer food recipes that generate maximum profit, and those foods are not necessary healthy or good for consumers. Therefore, Americans have become what they eat: fat and sick. Why Americans Are Fat and Sick became the title of Ahbonbon’s fourth book.