Why are US meal portions so big??
Replies
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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?
I think that you are incorrect. A restaurant is a business. They make money by selling food to a customer above their cost of operation. If they could get away with using smaller food portions for the same price, they would because it would increase their profits.0 -
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.
An owners food costs is often 30% of their sales. An increase of 50% would take that to 45%. And increase in cost by 50% would likely reduce traffic by quite a bit. So I disagree with you.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.
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?
BOOOM!!
went her argument.0 -
American size 10 for a lady is.. slim, here in UK you are 14-16 and overweight. It's a different world.
You can tell by someone's size whether they are overweight?0 -
Actually I was in California for 15 days and ate out three meals a day for 12 of those days, breakfast, lunch and dinner in diners cafes and restaurants. The only time I felt comfortable with a meal was the last three days when we ate with (other) friends in their home.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 -
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?
1) don't believe so-called "documentaries" on youtube
2) the explanation is simple. food is more readily available now than ever in history. most people work at desks now instead of toiling in the fields all day. the human body is still designed for the "feast or famine" cycles that were common throughout history. now, we not only don't have famine (in the developed world), but we have leisure time and we are no longer nearly as active procuring that food nor surviving. snacking is now an option. i don't think people a 1000 years ago had the time during the day to snack. so it has nothing to do with food companies or corporations or any of that tinfoil hat nonsense... it's because life is easier and we burn less calories and food is more available and we eat more of it as a result. it's that simple.0 -
I like the big portion sizes because then I get to take leftovers home and enjoy the meal again!0
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American size 10 for a lady is.. slim, here in UK you are 14-16 and overweight. It's a different world.
You can tell by someone's size whether they are overweight?
Seriously, I'm thrilled to be getting back in to a size 12. Size 10 on me means I'm damn close to my ideal weight, but sure broad generalizations apply to everybody, right?0 -
I'm please to have shopped in the USA and bought size 10 US which equates to 14 UK - I'm wearing everything inside out to show off the label!0
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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?
1) don't believe so-called "documentaries" on youtube
2) the explanation is simple. food is more readily available now than ever in history. most people work at desks now instead of toiling in the fields all day. the human body is still designed for the "feast or famine" cycles that were common throughout history. now, we not only don't have famine (in the developed world), but we have leisure time and we are no longer nearly as active procuring that food nor surviving. snacking is now an option. i don't think people a 1000 years ago had the time during the day to snack. so it has nothing to do with food companies or corporations or any of that tinfoil hat nonsense... it's because life is easier and we burn less calories and food is more available and we eat more of it as a result. it's that simple.
Dear Brainy,
1. The documentary was on BBC but you can find it on you tube
2. Clearly you are in the 'a calorie is a calorie' camp, 'calories in/calories out'. I disagree, I find the evidence for low nutrition, high fat, high sugar, highly processed food being poisonous and addictive totally convincing. You may disagree, so let us just carry on doing what we are doing. Good luck to you.
0 -
American size 10 for a lady is.. slim, here in UK you are 14-16 and overweight. It's a different world.
not true. at 145 pounds(13~ pounds overweight) and 5'1" i was a size 10. however, if you look at one of my taller friends, they're size 10, 140 pounds, and 6'1".
height contributes to size, because shorter people generally have smaller frames. just because someone is a certain size, it doesn't mean they're slim.0 -
It's a conspiracy by Big Pharm. They are in cahoots with the restaurant industry (and in effect, bit ag) to make us ever fatter, ensuring a continuous market for their products. Do we really believe that with all of the advancement in pharmaceuticals that there is no cure for obesity? It's not in their best interests to have a healthy public.
Here is a really good article:
http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-obesity-conspiracy0 -
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.
With a smaller appetite, think of paying for a buffet as paying for _variety_ vs. paying for _quantity_.
So you're still getting your money's worth, because for one price you are able to sample a little of this, a little of that ... whereas if it was tapas style or dim sum style you'd be paying individually for all those small samples.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.
If you're full and happy, you just got your money's worth no matter how little you eat!
And why such venom with the Brit?? If she was an American, you'd all be agreeing with her.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?
1) don't believe so-called "documentaries" on youtube
2) the explanation is simple. food is more readily available now than ever in history. most people work at desks now instead of toiling in the fields all day. the human body is still designed for the "feast or famine" cycles that were common throughout history. now, we not only don't have famine (in the developed world), but we have leisure time and we are no longer nearly as active procuring that food nor surviving. snacking is now an option. i don't think people a 1000 years ago had the time during the day to snack. so it has nothing to do with food companies or corporations or any of that tinfoil hat nonsense... it's because life is easier and we burn less calories and food is more available and we eat more of it as a result. it's that simple.
Dear Brainy,
1. The documentary was on BBC but you can find it on you tube
2. Clearly you are in the 'a calorie is a calorie' camp, 'calories in/calories out'. I disagree, I find the evidence for low nutrition, high fat, high sugar, highly processed food being poisonous and addictive totally convincing. You may disagree, so let us just carry on doing what we are doing. Good luck to you.
:facepalm:
i'll stick with actual science.0 -
and THAT is the answer to why we are so darn FAT!!!!!!!!!!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!
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.
If you're full and happy, you just got your money's worth no matter how little you eat!
And why such venom with the Brit?? If she was an American, you'd all be agreeing with her.
not venom. just pointing out that this is yet another "OMG! Americans are so fat!" thread masquerading as a "OMG! American portion sizes are so big!" thread.
we're all weary of it.
if i started a thread titled, "OMG! British people have such awful teeth!", how do you think folks from Britain would respond?0 -
facepalm my buttocks0
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facepalm my buttocks
PS - i'll still stick with actual, real science. i'll leave the crackpot conspiracy stuff to the nutters. my only regret is not buying stock in the companies that make tinfoil. i would have made a mint. :frown:0 -
It's a conspiracy by Big Pharm. They are in cahoots with the restaurant industry (and in effect, bit ag) to make us ever fatter, ensuring a continuous market for their products. Do we really believe that with all of the advancement in pharmaceuticals that there is no cure for obesity? It's not in their best interests to have a healthy public.
Here is a really good article:
http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-obesity-conspiracy
otterluv, you are awesome. love your bingo wings, X X X
:doublefacepalm:
http://weknowgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/star-trek-joke-gif.gif0 -
You're very funny Brainy0
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It's a conspiracy by Big Pharm. They are in cahoots with the restaurant industry (and in effect, bit ag) to make us ever fatter, ensuring a continuous market for their products. Do we really believe that with all of the advancement in pharmaceuticals that there is no cure for obesity? It's not in their best interests to have a healthy public.
Here is a really good article:
http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-obesity-conspiracy
otterluv, you are awesome. love your bingo wings, X X X
Awww, thanks honey. Lose 75 lbs by maintaining a sensible deficit while simultaneously doing a progressively heavy lifting program to maintain, and hopefully increase, LBM is really all it takes.
Best of luck reaching your goals :flowerforyou:0 -
Being someone who is a dual national, with a transcontinental family, and who grew up in the UK but has lived in the US for the past 15 years, I feel that I should contribute to this thread...however, as I have not eaten in enough restaurants in the US or the UK to feel comfortable making blanket generalizations, I will limit it to *my* limited observations.
My personal experience in the limited sample that is me...*some* restaurants here seem to have larger portions than *some* restaurants in the UK. However, the fast food places and the higher end places are pretty much comparable in my experience.
However, this should be weighed with the fact that, again, in my limited experience, taking leftovers home is more common/acceptable/expected in the US, so when there are bigger portions, it does not necessarily mean that people are eating it all in one sitting.0 -
It's a conspiracy by Big Pharm. They are in cahoots with the restaurant industry (and in effect, bit ag) to make us ever fatter, ensuring a continuous market for their products. Do we really believe that with all of the advancement in pharmaceuticals that there is no cure for obesity? It's not in their best interests to have a healthy public.
Here is a really good article:
http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-obesity-conspiracy
otterluv, you are awesome. love your bingo wings, X X X
Those are called muscles. She has worked amazingly hard for them. Stick around and work hard and you may get to see some firsthand.0 -
1. The US government subsidizes food production, making food crazy cheap (but not of good quality).
2. Americans have been conditioned to think that bigger is better. Bigger and cheaper is best.
3. To get smaller portions we have to pay more. For instance, if you want your meal split with half in a box to go, or wish to share your meal with your dinner mate, there is a surcharge of $1 or more at most establishments.
4. At fast food places the surcharge for smaller portions can double the price of the meal due to the increased labor cost in a custom order. Just try getting a half-sized banana split at Dairy Queen. It'll cost you nearly $9 to buy the individual ingredients.
5. We kind of like it this way.0 -
If it's a double size portion of something I put it in a to go box and eat it later. There's no reason to eat it all right then unless I just WANT to do so.0
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It's a conspiracy by Big Pharm. They are in cahoots with the restaurant industry (and in effect, bit ag) to make us ever fatter, ensuring a continuous market for their products. Do we really believe that with all of the advancement in pharmaceuticals that there is no cure for obesity? It's not in their best interests to have a healthy public.
Here is a really good article:
http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-obesity-conspiracy
otterluv, you are awesome. love your bingo wings, X X X
Yes she is. Far to awesome to make tacky, uncalled for and ignorant comments.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?
1) don't believe so-called "documentaries" on youtube
2) the explanation is simple. food is more readily available now than ever in history. most people work at desks now instead of toiling in the fields all day. the human body is still designed for the "feast or famine" cycles that were common throughout history. now, we not only don't have famine (in the developed world), but we have leisure time and we are no longer nearly as active procuring that food nor surviving. snacking is now an option. i don't think people a 1000 years ago had the time during the day to snack. so it has nothing to do with food companies or corporations or any of that tinfoil hat nonsense... it's because life is easier and we burn less calories and food is more available and we eat more of it as a result. it's that simple.
Dear Brainy,
1. The documentary was on BBC but you can find it on you tube
2. Clearly you are in the 'a calorie is a calorie' camp, 'calories in/calories out'. I disagree, I find the evidence for low nutrition, high fat, high sugar, highly processed food being poisonous and addictive totally convincing. You may disagree, so let us just carry on doing what we are doing. Good luck to you.
You can disagree all you want, but science disagrees with you0 -
It's a conspiracy by Big Pharm. They are in cahoots with the restaurant industry (and in effect, bit ag) to make us ever fatter, ensuring a continuous market for their products. Do we really believe that with all of the advancement in pharmaceuticals that there is no cure for obesity? It's not in their best interests to have a healthy public.
Here is a really good article:
http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-obesity-conspiracy
otterluv, you are awesome. love your bingo wings, X X X
sparks787, you are awesome. love your profile pic. surely your body is perfect. come back and make snide remarks when you are ready to show yourself, X X X0 -
It's a conspiracy by Big Pharm. They are in cahoots with the restaurant industry (and in effect, bit ag) to make us ever fatter, ensuring a continuous market for their products. Do we really believe that with all of the advancement in pharmaceuticals that there is no cure for obesity? It's not in their best interests to have a healthy public.
Here is a really good article:
http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-obesity-conspiracy
otterluv, you are awesome. love your bingo wings, X X X
Awww, thanks honey. Lose 75 lbs by maintaining a sensible deficit while simultaneously doing a progressively heavy lifting program to maintain (and hopefully) increase LBM is really all it takes.
Best of luck reaching your goals :flowerforyou:
You truly are amazing. You have achieved so much and still have an amazing attitude even when dealing with rude, ignorant, uncalled for comments. :flowerforyou:0
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