I really don't accept this as a generalized concept, denying the experiences of the roughly 1/3 of Americans who live in big cities in the US to then base your perspectives of the food culture of other nations on their big cities (Author was quick to note his experience in Paris) seems obviously biased. Further, I've not found a grocery store chain in Europe that is of comparable quality to Whole Foods (Don't pretend a store with 500+ locations is some impossible food-y standard).