Why are US meal portions so big??
lynnerack
Posts: 158 Member
I've just returned from a holiday in California and was amazed at the portion sizes on all the meals I had when eating in restaurants. I mentioned this to an American friend and he just replied that the US was the land of plenty and they had to support their farmers. He then left half of his stack of pancakes and it was thrown away - what is the sense of that?? Portions in the UK are much smaller and yet we have a weight problem here too.
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The meals are larger because the market responds to what the consumers want,0
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Haha I know what you mean, the portion sizes are ridiculous here. I guess its because people demand it and the restaurants want to bring in more people with the all you can eat buffets and giant portion sizes. What's good is that most restaurants nowadays, even fast food places, now offer healthy options as well (i.e. salads instead of fries, etc) so if you're conscious about things like that you generally will have some options. But I agree the portion sizes here are pretty ridiculous haha!0
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nationalistic thread is nationalistic.
i know it's popular in Europe to take potshots at the USA whenever and wherever possible, but just because you ate one meal in one restaurant and got a dumb explanation from one friend, does not mean that such an assertion (as found in your thread title) is universally true.
go to an expensive foo-foo restaurant in NYC and you'll find much smaller (and more expensive portions).
go to a pub in rural England and you'll find large portion sizes.
there is no government agency in either country that enforces a mandatory minimum portion size for restaurants. every restaurant and chef is different and has different standards.0 -
American size 10 for a lady is.. slim, here in UK you are 14-16 and overweight. It's a different world.0
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nationalistic thread is nationalistic.
i know it's popular in Europe to take potshots at the USA whenever and wherever possible, but just because you ate one meal in one restaurant and got a dumb explanation from one friend, does not mean that such an assertion (as found in your thread title) is universally true.
go to an expensive foo-foo restaurant in NYC and you'll find much smaller (and more expensive portions).
go to a pub in rural England and you'll find large portion sizes.
there is no government agency in either country that enforces a mandatory minimum portion size for restaurants. every restaurant and chef is different and has different standards.
True.0 -
nationalistic thread is nationalistic.
i know it's popular in Europe to take potshots at the USA whenever and wherever possible, but just because you ate one meal in one restaurant and got a dumb explanation from one friend, does not mean that such an assertion (as found in your thread title) is universally true.
go to an expensive foo-foo restaurant in NYC and you'll find much smaller (and more expensive portions).
go to a pub in rural England and you'll find large portion sizes.
there is no government agency in either country that enforces a mandatory minimum portion size for restaurants. every restaurant and chef is different and has different standards.
That is a good point, oftentimes the more you pay, the less you get of a higher quality food. And then there are all you can eat buffets who charge $10/head for lower quality food in massive quantities.0 -
American size 10 for a lady is.. slim, here in UK you are 14-16 and overweight. It's a different world.
That is funny, because sizing varies quite a bit.0 -
Haha I know what you mean, the portion sizes are ridiculous here. I guess its because people demand it and the restaurants want to bring in more people with the all you can eat buffets and giant portion sizes. What's good is that most restaurants nowadays, even fast food places, now offer healthy options as well (i.e. salads instead of fries, etc) so if you're conscious about things like that you generally will have some options. But I agree the portion sizes here are pretty ridiculous haha!
The thing I hate about all you can eat buffets is that I have a small appetite, and although I eat a healthy amount throughout the day, I cannot eat much in a single sitting. So I feel like I am not getting my money's worth. lol. I just try to taste a tiny bit of everything and make it into one small plate.0 -
Where I live (Bahrain) the American restaurants like Friday's and Chilli's do very large portion sizes, but that's fine by me, I eat until I'm full in the restaurant, then take the rest home in a box and have another one or two meals from it. I get two or three meals for the price of one.
I don't think it's just the USA though.... most British curry houses do huge portion sizes, plus it's not really going out for a curry unless you have a large pile of poppadoms as a starter and at least two side dishes with your main course..... and one curry house in Birmingham sells naan breads the size of a table. No exaggeration. And they're advertised as naan bread for four. Naan bread for 2-3 families more like! But anyway, the USA does not have a monopoly on large portion sizes.0 -
nationalistic thread is nationalistic.
i know it's popular in Europe to take potshots at the USA whenever and wherever possible, but just because you ate one meal in one restaurant and got a dumb explanation from one friend, does not mean that such an assertion (as found in your thread title) is universally true.
go to an expensive foo-foo restaurant in NYC and you'll find much smaller (and more expensive portions).
go to a pub in rural England and you'll find large portion sizes.
there is no government agency in either country that enforces a mandatory minimum portion size for restaurants. every restaurant and chef is different and has different standards.
That is a good point, oftentimes the more you pay, the less you get of a higher quality food. And then there are all you can eat buffets who charge $10/head for lower quality food in massive quantities.
i'll bet a Big Mac in the UK is exactly the same size as a Big Mac in the USA, but of course that'll just be dismissed as the exception that proves the rule... :facepalm:0 -
This is what gets me. I'm old enough to remember when restaurant meals were the same size as some of today's appetizer plates. I mean really, you can get a plate of "appetizers" costing $9.00 and it will fill you up.
What also gets me is the restaurants that "supersize" ,,, 5 dollar footlong Subway for $5.00 and the 6 inch for $4.75 but if i eat the footlong it will be too much. I dont care about the 25 cents savings to buy a whole bunch of other food i dont need.
Also, if you want a medium soda, at the theatre, they say $3.00, but for 50 cents more you can get a humungous size. Again, the extra size is not wanted.
i was at a restaurant which gives large portions for the money..which is good if you want that.. however, I just wanted an appetizer of 3 shrimp and rissoto. The guy tried to talk me into getting a lunch plate which was better value. but it ended up too much. so he was trying to give me the "better value" but its not what i wanted... i wanted portion control.. with just the smaller items.0 -
nationalistic thread is nationalistic.
i know it's popular in Europe to take potshots at the USA whenever and wherever possible, but just because you ate one meal in one restaurant and got a dumb explanation from one friend, does not mean that such an assertion (as found in your thread title) is universally true.
go to an expensive foo-foo restaurant in NYC and you'll find much smaller (and more expensive portions).
go to a pub in rural England and you'll find large portion sizes.
there is no government agency in either country that enforces a mandatory minimum portion size for restaurants. every restaurant and chef is different and has different standards.
That is a good point, oftentimes the more you pay, the less you get of a higher quality food. And then there are all you can eat buffets who charge $10/head for lower quality food in massive quantities.
i'll bet a Big Mac in the UK is exactly the same size as a Big Mac in the USA, but of course that'll just be dismissed as the exception that proves the rule... :facepalm:
Anything to trash talk America, eh? And WE are called the arrogant ones.0 -
Haha I know what you mean, the portion sizes are ridiculous here. I guess its because people demand it and the restaurants want to bring in more people with the all you can eat buffets and giant portion sizes. What's good is that most restaurants nowadays, even fast food places, now offer healthy options as well (i.e. salads instead of fries, etc) so if you're conscious about things like that you generally will have some options. But I agree the portion sizes here are pretty ridiculous haha!
The thing I hate about all you can eat buffets is that I have a small appetite, and although I eat a healthy amount throughout the day, I cannot eat much in a single sitting. So I feel like I am not getting my money's worth. lol. I just try to taste a tiny bit of everything and make it into one small plate.
oh the buffets are a trip.. me and my bff went to a great buffet $20 for absolutely the best buffet because they had a lot of various seafood (clams, shrimp).. and bbq ribs,, well this one table were piling on just about all the bbq ribs as if there was going to be no more ever. we couldn't even get 2 ribs!!! HOGS!!! grrrr... i hate when people fill up a plate as if the food is going to run out and then you cant get even one or two pieces grrrr... by the way, this is the Horseshoe Casino buffet in Hammond, IN. I haven't gone there in a while, but i mean they have a whole display case of desserts that you think you're in a bakery.0 -
What I found quite interesting after a recent trip to North America is how "in your face" all the fast food chain restaurant signs are! No avoiding dunkin donuts, Macdonalds, Wendy's etc etc...HUGE signs everywhere...it made even this non-junk food loving Brit's mouth water....honestly, imho, with such huge signs the average junk-food loving person dosnt stand a chance!!0
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I've just returned from a holiday in California and was amazed at the portion sizes on all the meals I had when eating in restaurants. I mentioned this to an American friend and he just replied that the US was the land of plenty and they had to support their farmers. He then left half of his stack of pancakes and it was thrown away - what is the sense of that?? Portions in the UK are much smaller and yet we have a weight problem here too.
Apparently you were not introduced to each type of restaurant in the U.S.A.
It is really sad when a person takes one experience with one friend and generalizes for an entire country. :ohwell:0 -
American size 10 for a lady is.. slim, here in UK you are 14-16 and overweight. It's a different world.
American size 10 long on my 5'8" frame IS slim. My hip bones wouldn't fit in anything smaller than an 8. Different people have different body types, doesn't matter what country you're from.0 -
What I found quite interesting after a recent trip to North America is how "in your face" all the fast food chain restaurant signs are! No avoiding dunkin donuts, Macdonalds, Wendy's etc etc...HUGE signs everywhere...it made even this non-junk food loving Brit's mouth water....honestly, imho, with such huge signs the average junk-food loving person dosnt stand a chance!!
That is just the status quo for marketing here. It is meant to grab your attention. Live here a few years and you will barely notice them.0 -
What I found quite interesting after a recent trip to North America is how "in your face" all the fast food chain restaurant signs are! No avoiding dunkin donuts, Macdonalds, Wendy's etc etc...HUGE signs everywhere...it made even this non-junk food loving Brit's mouth water....honestly, imho, with such huge signs the average junk-food loving person dosnt stand a chance!!
Because signs have hands and grab you and force feed you food????? I'm sorry....I don't get the connection. Small signs, big signs, North America, Britain.....we all have free will and can choose what we eat.0 -
yeah I agree with you they are way to big. When in a restaurant I normally just order from the side order stuff (which is generally smaller). A lot of people just want a lot of food. Makes since why we got fat eh lol0
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Not sure if serious.0
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What I found quite interesting after a recent trip to North America is how "in your face" all the fast food chain restaurant signs are! No avoiding dunkin donuts, Macdonalds, Wendy's etc etc...HUGE signs everywhere...it made even this non-junk food loving Brit's mouth water....honestly, imho, with such huge signs the average junk-food loving person dosnt stand a chance!!
Because signs have hands and grab you and force feed you food????? I'm sorry....I don't get the connection. Small signs, big signs, North America, Britain.....we all have free will and can choose what we eat.
don't you know? large signs are tacky and would never be allowed in the UK. and even if they were, it would only be a recent thing... if you could just go back and see of photo of say, Picadilly Circus in the 60's you would know this to be true.
wait...
...what?0 -
LOL.. Dont know about portion sizes but dress sizes differ by 4; so an American 10 is an English 14, size 12 is a 16; 8 would be a 12 etc. Dont think that is knocking the system- just saying; its the size in inches that counts x0
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What I found quite interesting after a recent trip to North America is how "in your face" all the fast food chain restaurant signs are! No avoiding dunkin donuts, Macdonalds, Wendy's etc etc...HUGE signs everywhere...it made even this non-junk food loving Brit's mouth water....honestly, imho, with such huge signs the average junk-food loving person dosnt stand a chance!!
Because signs have hands and grab you and force feed you food????? I'm sorry....I don't get the connection. Small signs, big signs, North America, Britain.....we all have free will and can choose what we eat.
what the signs DONT have big hands to grab you and forcefeed you????....I am sooooo disappointed!!!!
But seriously, it was just an observation and actually I have lived in North America, both the USA and Canada....always noticed the huge signs...quite blots the beautiful landscapes when driving along the highways. No, none can force people to eat anything, I just feel the oh so obvious advertising of said fast-food restaurants dosnt help.0 -
Food portions are price proportionate to the market demand and need to make a profit. For example, pasta is cheap to make for restaurants. Because it is cheap to make the price for pasta is generally cheaper than other items on the menu b/c (1) Consumers would not pay the same price for pasta knowing it is cheaper to make than a proportionate size amount of beef; HOWEVER, pasta is generally a bigger profit margin item for an owner. So if it costs me $2 to make a half plate of pasta and you are only willing to pay $6 at most I would only make $4 profit on the 1/2 plate. However, if I double the proportion then consumers would be willing to pay twice as much or around $12 which I think is about the average price of a simple spaghetti dish. Cost to restaurant is $4 but profit is $12 - $4 or $8. However, a full plate of pasta is huge. So the proportions are not always just "we are fat slob America" type reasons but plain old business sense. In the UK your pound is worth more than the dollar hence the proportions do not have to be as large.0
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Food portions are price proportionate to the market demand and need to make a profit. For example, pasta is cheap to make for restaurants. Because it is cheap to make the price for pasta is generally cheaper than other items on the menu b/c (1) Consumers would not pay the same price for pasta knowing it is cheaper to make than a proportionate size amount of beef; HOWEVER, pasta is generally a bigger profit margin item for an owner. So if it costs me $2 to make a half plate of pasta and you are only willing to pay $6 at most I would only make $4 profit on the 1/2 plate. However, if I double the proportion then consumers would be willing to pay twice as much or around $12 which I think is about the average price of a simple spaghetti dish. Cost to restaurant is $4 but profit is $12 - $4 or $8. However, a full plate of pasta is huge. So the proportions are not always just "we are fat slob America" type reasons but plain old business sense. In the UK your pound is worth more than the dollar hence the proportions do not have to be as large.
i was tempted point out that getting people to pay more for larger portions equates to larger profits, but didn't feel like writing out an example. it is however generally true that if you make 40% margin, then it's better to sell $20 worth of products than $10. larger portions at higher prices = more sales = more profit in the register at the end of the night.0 -
US portions are large because for many Americans, going out to eat is expensive. When I eat out, I'm using money I barely have, I go starving and I leave stuffed. Money well-spent. I would be equally as happy with smaller portions, provided the cost is smaller too. At fast food joints, I get a small meal for $2 and some change, but if I'm busting $10 plus tip at a restaurant, I expect $10 of food and tip-worthy service. Otherwise I'd just stay home and make ramen.
Different restaurants have different portion sizes, too. A Red Lobster will not have the same amount of food per plate as an Applebess. You went to a California restaurant and they had big servings. "Hurr durr, guess restaurants made Merica fat." Very good, you uncovered a symptom of a much larger problem. When you get right down to it, portion sizes in the United States might be larger on average than portions across the world because there is a strong consumerist element to the culture. Maybe in order to compete in the market, restaurants needed to up their portions to make up for lost quality. Maybe Americans just aren't willing to spend upwards of $10 on reasonable amounts of "meh" food.
Then again, hurr durr, maybe it's because fat Americans are fat.0 -
Now please feel free to correct me but didn't Nixon stop higher tax on food too which I guess may have lead to more consumption?0
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I think that portion sizes have increased gradually over the years because it's good for the restaurant owners. If a restaurant increases the size of its portions by 50%, the overhead doesn't really change- doesn't take more people to serve it or to clean up, doesn't take a higher % of space in the restaurant, etc. So you can increase the price by 50% or maybe even a little less than 50% and it's still more profitable. Bonus- your staff gets bigger tips since the bill is higher, and you don't have to do a thing. (This is why typically the smaller-portion menus for kids and seniors have age limits on them- they're not as profitable.)
Added to that is the segment of the population that expects that much food, and the segment that expects leftovers to make a couple more meals, and not too many people object. I hate it when I'm traveling, though- no way to save leftovers- so I order a couple of appetizers, making sure that one is green and low-cal and the other is a reasonable source of protein.
Buffets are another matter- I try to avoid them completely. First of all, the number of seriously overweight people with overloaded plates is scary. Second, they're either inexpensive and have crappy food or fairly expensive for what I eat.0 -
The meals are larger because the market responds to what the consumers want,
dear whierd, I don't think i agree with you here, and i've heard enough of 'blame the fatties for their problems' i see the restaurants that are 'pushing' large portions as just like drug dealers, tempting their customers to buy more and more. Of course nobody else puts the food in our mouth, but it's not that simple and I think there is an addictive element to processed food. I speak as one who used to eat pizza, burgers etc. daily, now that I cook all my food at home I no longer crave my old diet. I still eat a lot - but it'smore nutritious. There is a british journalist called Jacques Peretti who's made some documentaries, you can find on you tube, about 'The Men Who Made us Thin' . The obesity epidemic cannot have started because people suddenly got greedier, it has to be the environment we're living in. What do you think?0 -
I think part of the reason, in the UK as well, is that the restaurants have to cater for the biggest appetites. Not many people want to still feel peckish after eating a restaurant meal, so the meals need to be at least the size that would make a large, active man feel full. And then us short women get the same sized portion!
A local Italian restaurant here does half portions for around half price, which is great for me, but probably not so good for the restaurant! The half portion is still bigger than I would eat at home.0
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