NAME.....American Soup
CODE.....FD3302
ORIGIN...Europe
STATUS...False

A man in Kosovo was regularly sent food packages from his relatives who had moved to America. One day, the postal service in his village telephoned the man to inform him that they had another package from America for him to collect. The man's car wouldn't start, so he had to ask his neighbour for a lift. The neighbour reluctantly gave him a lift into the village. The village was within walking distance, but he was afraid that the package would be too heavy to carry home.

When the man collected the package he almost died with embarrassment, as the parcel was no bigger than a can of beans. The neighbour cursed him for wasting his time and they went home.

Inside the package was a small tin of a greyish black powder substance. With delight, the man thought that his relatives had sent him some more of that delicious American soup that you only have to pour hot water onto. "Those clever Americans", the man said to himself, "They can turn soup into powder, and then the powder back into soup again". He wasted no time in making his soup, and although it didn't taste quite as nice as the other ones he had been sent before, he slurped it up with the same enthusiasm. Only after he had finished the last mouthful, the man spotted a small note that was attached with the package.

After reading the note, the man ran to the toilet and was violently sick. It appears that the note had informed him that his Aunt Mary had died, and that the package contained her ashes that they had sent back for burial in her homeland!

Summary

During a conversation about this legend, a good friend of mine told me this version. He is actually from Kosovo, and remembers hearing this story many times in his homeland, especially after the fall of the Communist state. He also informed me that the story was always told with a humorous tone, and was never taken seriously. Home grown stand-up comedians recited the story as part of their act, a tongue-in-cheek jibe at their own countrymen's blind bedazzlement of western technology and culture.

The Kosovan version circulated after the country was freed from the shackles of communism, and introduced to the western world. Throughout the '90's, people from this unstable, war torn country, have struggled bitterly against poverty. Many Kosovans have emigrated, or become refugees in other countries. Stories from these relatives about the western society have probably fuelled the legend.

This modern version of the UL, often referred to as 'Accidental Cannibalism', has parallel similarities to the original versions that became widespread in the years shortly after World War Two (WW2). In Britain, the war had taken its toll, money was scarce and food rations were in place for many years after. Powdered food was available under the ration restrictions, as well as being included in some relief packages. In other European countries, people had fled their homeland to escape persecution, and shipped back food to their poor relatives.

The true origins of the legend may have a more sinister anti-Semitic tone, from back in the days of the Renaissance. The story tells of an Italian Jew that smuggles his dead friends body back to Venice, by chopping the body into manageable pieces and pickling them in large jars with spices and honey. Then he transports the jars by boarding a ship bound for Venice. A Gentile from Florence, nicks a couple of pieces from the jars, and unwittingly feasts upon them!

'American Soup' is a story of misunderstanding between two very different cultures, and the difficulties that arise when a nation tries to adapt too quickly to an unfamiliar modern culture. It is also a story of unintentional cannibalism, of which, not only does the very thought conjures up powerful emotions of loathing and disgust, but also of thought provoking bewilderment.

Final Thoughts

In 1906, Upton Sinclair wrote a novel about the appalling conditions in Chicago's meatpacking industry. In one of the worst stories, a worker slips and falls into a large vat of meat being rendered for lard. The bones were eventually fished out of the vat, but the body had already been dissolved. This didn't stop production, and that batch of 'Durham's Pure Leaf Lard' was shipped out, bound for kitchen cupboards across America.

Stories like this one shocked the American public, and the U.S Department of Agriculture were forced to investigate whether the stories were true or not. They were true! Congress even had to call hearings to pacify an angry public, incensed that they had taken part in accidental cannibalism.

Radical changes were made to the law in the meat industry, culminating with America's first ever Meat Protection Act in 1906.