A salad state?

The English have a long tradition as accomplished travel writers. So it was with some eagerness that I discovered a book by Peter Biddlecombe (don't you just love those English names?) entitled "The United Burger States of America". As I wandered the bookstore my eye landed on the cover of this paperback. It featured a cartoon cow in the shape of the USA and sliced up into states. Oklahoma was in the center.

I was familiar with this writer. He is the English version of Jay Cronley. The back cover said:

"The United States is many things to many people: to Peter Biddlecombe it's food. America, he argues, is nothing less than a Great United Bumper Burger: from the meat state of Connecticut, where the hamburger was invented in a New Haven car park .... to the french-fry state of Texas, where potato-head politicians as "Is our children learning?"

Texas the french fry state? Connecticut the meat state? Ok, so Biddlecombe doesn't seem to have in-depth knowledge of America or our food. That naivete is what makes travel writing so much fun to read. I bought it for 6 quid.

Once home I couldn't wait to read the part about Biddlecombe's travels through Oklahoma. The author had divided his book into sections based on food types: the burger states, bun states, cheese states, bacon states, salad states, french fry states, relish, ketchup, salt, fruity (yes, California), and finally, the drink states. Silly? Yes. The classification system was contrived and meaningless. Oklahoma was a "salad state", along with New Mexico, Hawaii, and North Dakota. Go figure.

On page 199 Biddlecombe gets around to Oklahoma: "And finally, of course, there is Oklahoma. Poor, innocent Oklahoma. I defy anyone to read, see or hear anything about the famous Trail of Tears and not shed a tear for the poor Indians and their families." Then in three short paragraphs Biddlecomb dispenses with poor, innocent Oklahoma by saying that we are famous for the worst race riot in American history (1921) and Timothy McVeigh and the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City (1995). That is all there is to Oklahoma according to this Englishman who obviously didn't set foot in our state. Did that stop him from slandering our 3.3 million inhabitants? Of course not. Like so many, the author probably spent 5 minutes on the internet and 2 minutes writing about his indepth research on Oklahoma.

It's lamentable that those who have never been to Oklahoma dismiss it with outdated generalities. To be dismissed is bad enough. To be dismissed out of ignorance is doubly hurtful. To have that ignorance published and distributed worldwide is literary criminality.