The American Agenda???
Wonderob
Posts: 1,372 Member
I've just got back from a 2 week vacation in Florida and here's a few differences I noticed from here in UK. (Please ignore my disgraceful eating habits whilst I was away and concentrate on my main point!)
I ordered a burger and was told to pick 2 sides. I only wanted one so just asked for fries - waitress ariived and said she gave me double fries - no extra cost
I didn't even notice whenever my coke was nearly empty - another coke put in front of me before I knew it each time - no extra cost
I ordered the delicious but massive calorie Oreo shake - it arrived with an extra 4 inches of whipped cream on top! - no extra cost
Ordered baked potato - arrived with whole pot of butter and whole pot of sour cream - no extra cost
Supermarkets were as bad..
One double cookie ice cream = $2.50
One pack of 6 cookie ice creams = $2.75
One donut = 75 cents
One bos of 6 donuts = 99 cents
Here's the worse! Special promotion - One Big Mac for 99 cents! As if that wasn't outrageous enough, they were offereing 2 for one on this. THAT'S TWO BIG MACS FOR 99 CENTS!
Seriously, what's the agenda??? Can't be just to make money as these make no economical sense, they just seemed intent on giving away as much food as possible!
I put on 7 lbs and left with a new respect for you Americans who manage to keep the weight at bay! Granted I was intent on letting myself go for 2 weeks but they sure make it easy for you to eat over there!
I ordered a burger and was told to pick 2 sides. I only wanted one so just asked for fries - waitress ariived and said she gave me double fries - no extra cost
I didn't even notice whenever my coke was nearly empty - another coke put in front of me before I knew it each time - no extra cost
I ordered the delicious but massive calorie Oreo shake - it arrived with an extra 4 inches of whipped cream on top! - no extra cost
Ordered baked potato - arrived with whole pot of butter and whole pot of sour cream - no extra cost
Supermarkets were as bad..
One double cookie ice cream = $2.50
One pack of 6 cookie ice creams = $2.75
One donut = 75 cents
One bos of 6 donuts = 99 cents
Here's the worse! Special promotion - One Big Mac for 99 cents! As if that wasn't outrageous enough, they were offereing 2 for one on this. THAT'S TWO BIG MACS FOR 99 CENTS!
Seriously, what's the agenda??? Can't be just to make money as these make no economical sense, they just seemed intent on giving away as much food as possible!
I put on 7 lbs and left with a new respect for you Americans who manage to keep the weight at bay! Granted I was intent on letting myself go for 2 weeks but they sure make it easy for you to eat over there!
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Replies
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Yeah, the serving sizes here are insane. That is why I normally eat at home!0
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i noticed that when i went to visit my grandparents, i cant remember the name of the place ..sabrro maybe there a pizza joint, there big pop was legit a liter of pop with a straw! and free refils!
The promotions where endless to like for 2 dollars more get a larger drink and dessert ectect
due to the economy everyone wants the best bang for the buck so they "go big or go home"
explains obesity in my humble opinion..im from canada and we dont have things quit that bad but its deffintly on the rise, you need to be careful if going out.0 -
Lol! Supposedly you guys are catching up to us! We have around 28% of the population at obese and you guys are at around 25%. Mexico is number one at 30 % :00
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Do they not have this in the UK? These things boost sales, and increase revenue. The food industry is a business like any other, and they do that by decreasing per-unit production costs and increased sales which drive down the per-unit production costs.
When you are talking about the two industries: the service (restaurant) industry, and the grocery stores or overall consumer food market. I'll discuss them separately.
Restaurants are THE most prolific industry in the United States. They are employing more people than any other in this country. This means there is a LOT of competition. Your no-cost refills, and double sides, extra butter, etc, was all to make you remember THOSE places. They want you to remember them as being generous, so when you do eat out you return to THEIR place.
As to the grocery store that's different. Corn is subsidized, so it is kept artificially cheap. And corn syrup/corn oil is a cheap sweetener and preservative. Your donuts, ice cream, sodas, all are sweetened/fried/etc with corn or soy products which are kept very cheap and are VERY unhealthy.0 -
Welcome to our world!
You should see the buffets at places like Golden Coral. All you can eat - one price. All you can eat??? My husband and I don't visit these places because we would have to pay an outrageous price for the one plate of food we can eat!0 -
Do they not have this in the UK?
Not at all. Free refills and the other things the OP mentioned are alien concepts to us(most of the time).0 -
So what you're saying is food in the UK is over priced?0
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ah capitalism
don'tcha love it /eyeroll0 -
I have yet to see 2 big macs for 99 cents... lol... just sayin
But yeah, I dunno what is up with the way things are done here... And yet it's an arm and a leg to get the healthy foods.. Not so much the fresh produce, but it spoils soooo quickly, seems like by the next day the strawberries have mold on them...0 -
America is bad...but I've traveled to 7 other countries - including England - and it's just as bad :P haha. maybe in different ways...I saw a LOT of fried foods in London. In Barcleona, there were potatos everywhere I went, tons of red bull and alcohol!
Don't blame the country :P where's your self control? haha 0 -
This is exactly why I cook all my own food. Only the nice restaurants here have decent portions and without using cheat ingredients to make food simply taste good, no matter the cost to our health. Fast food in America is the fast track to an early death.0
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as far as the soda gose you buy one for around $2 and it comes with "free" refills, the amount of soda in your cup only cost around 5 cents to make and ship, so lets see your 1 soda you pay for has an equal value to 40 ish sodas. now my question is
''how much can you drink?":drinker:0 -
Its because the cost of living and food is cheap in the US, they could not afford to do this in the UK. Part of business is giving your customer the best value possible for their money to get repeat business. Its not some freaking conspiracy0
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I have yet to see 2 big macs for 99 cents... lol... just sayin
In fairness I didn't either but they kept on playing the advert on the radio0 -
So what you're saying is food in the UK is over priced?
It can be. I've taken my kids over a couple of times...My local Pizza Hut charges $10 for large pizzas...have eaten at Pizza Hut in both London and Aberdeen, Scotland...outrageously priced. Our local subway...$5 for 12" long sandwiches (limited selection) in the UK, they charge to toast it!0 -
America is bad...but I've traveled to 7 other countries - including England - and it's just as bad :P haha. maybe in different ways...I saw a LOT of fried foods in London. In Barcleona, there were potatos everywhere I went, tons of red bull and alcohol!
Don't blame the country :P where's your self control? haha
I know its anecdotal but I'm pretty sure we're not as bad as you with portion sizes and the extra add-ons. Though I did go to America four years ago, so my memory may be skewed.0 -
As to the corn subsidies, that's not capitalism. That's government bowing to the corn and soy industries. If the subsidies on those crops were removed I can guarantee the prices on anything with corn in it would go up. And how many unhealthy foods have corn in them? Sales of these foods would drop. (BTW: if more sales went towards healthy foods, the cost of those foods would go down)
I only eat out once a month or so, and it is something I plan in. I KNOW I'm probably not going to make my calorie goals those days but it's one day, who cares. One day in the course of a month is not a big deal.0 -
There are restaurant where serving sizes are like European ones but they are few and far between. A small container of raspberries will be up to $4-5, fresh fruits and veggies are like gold.
And yes, English are bad food folks too that's why I ate Indian when there. The USA is still one of the most overweight countries anywhere and corporations are more important than our health to the government!0 -
I've just got back from a 2 week vacation in Florida and here's a few differences I noticed from here in UK. (Please ignore my disgraceful eating habits whilst I was away and concentrate on my main point!)
I ordered a burger and was told to pick 2 sides. I only wanted one so just asked for fries - waitress ariived and said she gave me double fries - no extra cost
I didn't even notice whenever my coke was nearly empty - another coke put in front of me before I knew it each time - no extra cost
I ordered the delicious but massive calorie Oreo shake - it arrived with an extra 4 inches of whipped cream on top! - no extra cost
Ordered baked potato - arrived with whole pot of butter and whole pot of sour cream - no extra cost
Supermarkets were as bad..
One double cookie ice cream = $2.50
One pack of 6 cookie ice creams = $2.75
One donut = 75 cents
One bos of 6 donuts = 99 cents
Here's the worse! Special promotion - One Big Mac for 99 cents! As if that wasn't outrageous enough, they were offereing 2 for one on this. THAT'S TWO BIG MACS FOR 99 CENTS!
Seriously, what's the agenda??? Can't be just to make money as these make no economical sense, they just seemed intent on giving away as much food as possible!
I put on 7 lbs and left with a new respect for you Americans who manage to keep the weight at bay! Granted I was intent on letting myself go for 2 weeks but they sure make it easy for you to eat over there!
Yup. I just recently watched a documentary on food marketing though Netflix called "Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat." It pretty sums up why the food industry and our eating habits are the way they are. I highly suggest it.0 -
Hey...now you know!...Next time you visit America...avoid the franchise eateries like the plague (that they are)....Rule of thumb...The better the restaurant the better the quality of food and the smaller the portions.0
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as far as the soda gose you buy one for around $2 and it comes with "free" refills, the amount of soda in your cup only cost around 5 cents to make and ship, so lets see your 1 soda you pay for has an equal value to 40 ish sodas. now my question is
''how much can you drink?":drinker:
In comparison I went to a pretty standard Tapas restaurant and it was £2.50/£4 for just one medium glass of diet coke, no refills. :frown:0 -
America is bad...but I've traveled to 7 other countries - including England - and it's just as bad :P haha. maybe in different ways...I saw a LOT of fried foods in London. In Barcleona, there were potatos everywhere I went, tons of red bull and alcohol!
Don't blame the country :P where's your self control? haha
I don't think the OP was trying to say that food in the UK is particularly healthier than the food in the US. The point was that we make it much easier to eat more. Part of the point was that we are given extra servings of fries when we only ask for one. We get several refills and we don't even have to ask for it. I have also travelled to Europe and spent 10 years living in Turkey, Greece and Italy and free refils do not exist. You want another one, you ask for another and pay for it. It's not just put in front of you/ given to you. Sure you don't have to eat the extra fries or drink the refills but it sure makes it harder not to overeat.0 -
Hey...now you know!...Next time you visit America...avoid the franchise eateries like the plague (that they are)....Rule of thumb...The better the restaurant the better the quality of food and the smaller the portions.
But you have to go to Mcdonalds at least once, its like a pilgrimage for us foreigners.
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ah capitalism
don'tcha love it /eyeroll
Wondering if the eyeroll is because you prefer being told how much you can eat and drink (think NYC mayor trying to limit your soda intake, or San Francisco trying to determine whether your kid can have a toy in their happy meal)... Personally, I'll take my country along with all its "issues" and yes, even its capitalism, I will call these mayors on their stupid ideas for my "betterment", and just be personally responsible... What a novel idea.
Just thinkin' there are countries out there where you might be more *comfortable* and not have to suffer so... I'll help you pack. 0 -
Surely there can't be many countries left without a McDonald's?Hey...now you know!...Next time you visit America...avoid the franchise eateries like the plague (that they are)....Rule of thumb...The better the restaurant the better the quality of food and the smaller the portions.
But you have to go to Mcdonalds at least once, its like a pilgrimage for us foreigners.0 -
Surely there can't be many countries left without a McDonald's?
No I meant since McDonalds was born in America, it feels like your travelling to a genuine McDonalds. I don't know it felt like I was a Christian travelling to Lourdes to get some genuine holy water, but instead I was getting a genuine McShake from Mcdonalds.0 -
I believe another reason they can do it (charge so little/offer so many extras for free) is many states do not have the same minimum wage laws as the UK & most of Europe. Waiting staff in UK get around 10gbp an hour (our minimum wage is around 6gbp per hour but only very **** places would pay this) The overheads in employing staff in Uk is much higher, this is another reason why the "tipping" culture exists in USA. In UK tipping is optional, USA is pretty much mandatory regardless of level of service.0
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Ohhhh....Surely there can't be many countries left without a McDonald's?
No I meant since McDonalds was born in America, it feels like your travelling to a genuine McDonalds. I don't know it felt like I was a Christian travelling to Lourdes to get some genuine holy water, but instead I was getting a genuine McShake from Mcdonalds.0 -
i tried mcdonalds in greece and they had calamari burgers and stuff like that, was different to the canadian ones hahah. I cant say i eat there much and i never will again after seeing the nutritional info in a calorie counter type book.0
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I believe another reason they can do it (charge so little/offer so many extras for free) is many states do not have the same minimum wage laws as the UK & most of Europe. Waiting staff in UK get around 10gbp an hour (our minimum wage is around 6gbp per hour but only very **** places would pay this) The overheads in employing staff in Uk is much higher, this is another reason why the "tipping" culture exists in USA. In UK tipping is optional, USA is pretty much mandatory regardless of level of service.
I remember being so surprised to find our breakfast bill higher at the little cafe down the street from our hotel in London... When I asked for an explanation, it was because we had chosen to sit at a table to eat our breakfast pastries rather than take them outside to eat.0
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