Why are US meal portions so big??

I have travelled a lot for work and spent a fair bit of time in the US, and yes the portions are big. One time, a male colleague and I shared an appetizer as our main meal and we still didn't finish it....
One of the things I struggled with when in the US, was just getting a meal with regular plain old veg i.e. not creamed corn/spinach etc.
I think the portions are big when you go to the chain type restaurants. The independently owned restaurants seem to offer a more realistic portion size (IMO).

FWIW, this isn't just a US issue, I have seen the same in pretty much every European city I have visited (Stockholm, Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Dublin to name a few). However, whilst the portion sizes may be huge, you control the portion you eat

Hooray! Thank you! I 'm the original poster and I have been dismayed by the venom in some of the replies to my post. But perhaps it has made people think!

Just another post by a little traveled xenophobe making generalizations about an entire nation from eating in tourist traps and high-volume troughs.

It's OK, I've seen Americans do the same thing.

We have xenophobes too.

No worries. :flowerforyou:

what were people saying before about nasty name calling...? I'm pretty sure this would fall into that category. 'little traveled xenophobe... eating in high-volume troughs' -- completely uncalled for nasty assumptions. She's probably travelled more than you, pet.

but hey if we put an emoticon in that makes everything a-ok right?

I tried to ignore this but yes I've travelled far and wide, at least 8 countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, Namibia, Ghana; Asia including China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand x 2 and Kazakhstan; South America including Argentina and Ecuador; Costa Rica x 2 and all over Europe of course. Haven't reached Australia and New Zealand yet but they're on my list. On all my travels I've never seen portions as large as the US and it wasn't a criticism, I was more worried about the waste but this has been explained to me, ie doggy bags to take home, not easy for me when I was travelling and staying in hotels!

So you're a "reasonably" traveled xenophobe. That's just dandy.

Look, I get it. I've worked with my share of British xenophobes, and in several countries. Trust me. You're not the only one. Of course, we have had our own brilliant travelers write about Europe and Asia too. I can't tell you how many times I've had friends come back from the U.K. to tell me how absolutely inedible the food was. :flowerforyou:

If you can't learn to stop taking limited experiences and writing them large, then there is little anyone else can do to change your attitudes. I have eaten at those type of places a handful of times. The food is usually awful, the portions huge, and they are decidedly aimed at a certain market. If you want to leave the cheap and fake "Italian" places, the TGIF Fridays, and the "Chinese" buffets and go to real restaurants, you will have a different experience. But, meh . . .

When I started my diet to lose weight I noticed the same thing. Portions are way too big, and packed with calories and fat. Alot of restaurants just don't offer light meals either. It's hard to go out and eat. I mainly picked out a few restaurants that I know have healthy choices and try to just stick with them.

A few years ago I worked for Bread Garden ( Vancouver Canada) and helped open their first US location - First one in Denver. I was shocked with the fact that our company had to increase all the recipes to yield HUGE single portion meals because that is what the expectation for portion size was in the US. Ridiculous portions!

Also, I do find it is apparent that there is certainly a weight issue going on south of the border when I'm down there...so many large, overweight people as compared to what I see in other countries...including my own.

The cream is for the coffee. Tea in the States is more often drank black with honey or lemon, or iced. 'Two with moo' is uncommon here (and most places I've been outside of the UK, now I think of it). In a restaurant they'll give you some milk if you ask for it. I find that the water served with the tea is rarely hot enough to brew a decent cuppa, though.

Makes sense - reminds me of an old advert we had here about british stereotypes (can't remember what company) - 'You take a delicious oriental infusion and dump cow juice in it!'

If I go to the US I expect big food! It's one of the best things about the country - $7 for a pizza that would cost me £15 here in the UK, it's awesome. A 'starter' plate of nachos as big as me. I can't find these things where I am, they are delicious, and they are amazing. If it's wasted then of course that's a shame, but I'm certain your average american isn't eating giant pizza at the pool hall every night, just like I don't go to the local Indian for a giant curry, naan bread, fried samosas every night.

Now, one thing I didn't understand and maybe someone could clarify - I went to a conference and there didn't seem to be any milk to be found with tea/coffee, it was always labelled 'cream'. Is this usual?

The cream is for the coffee. Tea in the States is more often drank black with honey or lemon, or iced. 'Two with moo' is uncommon here (and most places I've been outside of the UK, now I think of it). In a restaurant they'll give you some milk if you ask for it. I find that the water served with the tea is rarely hot enough to brew a decent cuppa, though.

On a general note about traveling and cultural differences -

Problems with portions and tea, etc... Are just classic examples of culture shock - viewing another culture through your own cultural expectations. We'd all do well to remember a quote I once saw - "Other cultures are not failed attempts to be you".

^ I like that quote. One does not travel to a couple of destinations in a country, eat at a handful of restaurants, and then pretend to understand that country and it's food culture, or for that matter come to any conclusion about a country's culture in general, particularly when that country is as large as the United States. Or, at least one should be wise enough to resist the temptation.

We saw another one of these threads several weeks back. Someone posted an old article written by an American trailing spouse who spent a year in France and then decided that the French do not "snack" and that her family would thereafter also stop snacking. That devolved into discussions of what "snacking" and "snack food" meant. A couple of francophiles loved it, several others of us saw it for what it was.

I have traveled to a good number of countries, but I do not pretend to understand them. The only country of which I've formed definite opinions, other than my own, is Japan. I lived there for almost 6 years, and yet, I still work hard to bite my tongue. Why? Because, it is very difficult to judge an entire nation after living in one neighborhood, in one part of one city, and only traveling around that country for a few days or weeks at a time. And it is particularly difficult when I come from a culture that is so very different. It would be easy to conclude that the Japanese are just "different," and many have written such nonsense, because people love to generalize. Of course, when I speak to American and Australian friends of mine that have lived in Japan for 15, 20, and even 30, years, they often tell me that my assumptions were/are wrong and to take individuals as individuals. Do I jump up and down and tell them that I'm right and they're wrong? No. I listen to what they have to say. Of course, for countries with a common language, there is an entirely different problem. American food culture is not British. It is an amalgamation of many cultures, and quite a few of the immigrants left starvation and deprivation in their own countries.

And yes, after seeing this so many times, I question motives when I see someone start generalizing about a county that is not their own.

I was thinking the same thing. If I can get an extra sandwich for 25 cents then I will. That's a 1/4 sandwich for myself and each of my kids, or if we all got an extra sandwich that's lunch the next day (take the tomatoes out and put them on the side to avoid the bread getting soggy).

It's the same with restaurant meals. I tend to order the bigger portions and take at least half to three quarters home for my husband's lunch. I usually eat my whole salad, and have them pack the entrée before it gets to the table. Soggy salad is just yucky.

As I type this it occurs to me that we share almost everything we order.

If I go to the US I expect big food! It's one of the best things about the country - $7 for a pizza that would cost me £15 here in the UK, it's awesome. A 'starter' plate of nachos as big as me. I can't find these things where I am, they are delicious, and they are amazing. If it's wasted then of course that's a shame, but I'm certain your average american isn't eating giant pizza at the pool hall every night, just like I don't go to the local Indian for a giant curry, naan bread, fried samosas every night.

Now, one thing I didn't understand and maybe someone could clarify - I went to a conference and there didn't seem to be any milk to be found with tea/coffee, it was always labelled 'cream'. Is this usual?

The cream is for the coffee. Tea in the States is more often drank black with honey or lemon, or iced. 'Two with moo' is uncommon here (and most places I've been outside of the UK, now I think of it). In a restaurant they'll give you some milk if you ask for it. I find that the water served with the tea is rarely hot enough to brew a decent cuppa, though.

On a general note about traveling and cultural differences -

Problems with portions and tea, etc... Are just classic examples of culture shock - viewing another culture through your own cultural expectations. We'd all do well to remember a quote I once saw - "Other cultures are not failed attempts to be you".

^ I like that quote. One does not travel to a couple of destinations in a country, eat at a handful of restaurants, and then pretend to understand that country and it's food culture, or for that matter come to any conclusion about a country's culture in general, particularly when that country is as large as the United States. Or, at least one should be wise enough to resist the temptation.

We saw another one of these threads several weeks back. Someone posted an old article written by an American trailing spouse who spent a year in France and then decided that the French do not "snack" and that her family would thereafter also stop snacking. That devolved into discussions of what "snacking" and "snack food" meant. A couple of francophiles loved it, several others of us saw it for what it was.

I have traveled to a good number of countries, but I do not pretend to understand them. The only country of which I've formed definite opinions, other than my own, is Japan. I lived there for almost 6 years, and yet, I still work hard to bite my tongue. Why? Because, it is very difficult to judge an entire nation after living in one neighborhood, in one part of one city, and only traveling around that country for a few days or weeks at a time. And it is particularly difficult when I come from a culture that is so very different. It would be easy to conclude that the Japanese are just "different," and many have written such nonsense, because people love to generalize. Of course, when I speak to American and Australian friends of mine that have lived in Japan for 15, 20, and even 30, years, they often tell me that my assumptions were/are wrong and to take individuals as individuals. Do I jump up and down and tell them that I'm right and they're wrong? No. I listen to what they have to say. Of course, for countries with a common language, there is an entirely different problem. American food culture is not British. It is an amalgamation of many cultures, and quite a few of the immigrants left starvation and deprivation in their own countries.

And yes, after seeing this so many times, I question motives when I see someone start generalizing about a county that is not their own.

And a few fracophones like myself found it silly.
I too see the questionable motives - the OP has not hesitated to label America as "wasteful" both in the OP and in a post or two.

I travel a lot and my daughters at their early age have lived in 3 countries and have travel "in their DNA" - my oldest put it memorable in her graduation speech (and a multi-country school) -

"There are those of us that will enjoy a lot of travel but if we fail to get past the generalities and do not just experience the complexity of other places without judgement we are not travellers, just tourists. Tourists judge from their home experience, travellers reach insights from the new. You choose: tourist or traveller?"

You are certainly doing something right to have a daughter so wise beyond her years.

I'm not going to quote Beach because it's so long, but I wanted to add my thoughts.

I have never and will never understand people who travel or move to another country and then spend all their time complaining about how it's not like where they came from. I have a friend from Italy and every time I talk to her, I hear about how the US should do XYZ "like in Italy."

Well then, go back to Italy!

The US is HUGE. People barely even speak the same language from place to place. I mean, the difference in slang and uses of certain terms between the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, West (and even from city to city in those regions) is as different at American English vs. British English.

What we eat and how we eat it varies by geographical area, as well. There are foods you can ONLY get in Buffalo, NY, and the immediate surounding suburbs. Try to find beef on weck anywhere outside of that very small area. No one will have even heard of it (and that's only one example). Who outside of New York state and Michigan has ever heard of sponge candy?

So, yeah, judging an entire country/culture on one very small experience is silly.

I unfortunately have not had the opportunity to travel much, but it's a goal. My goal is to get myself into a position where I can go live other places. I don't want to be a tourist and just see the sites and experience a little bit of other places. I want to be a citizen of those places at least for a few years at each place because I do want to experience those places and not just visit.

I ordered a side salad in one, and it was bigger than a salad I would have as a main course in England

And I've had side salads in many, many, many American restaurants that were tiny.

Last week, I met a British man in Jacksonville. He spends six weeks there every year, he said, and has been doing it for many years. He kept telling us about how in Britain, you can drive so much faster on the highways (motorways there, apparently). He went on and on about how the speed limits there are 70mph.

I-10 runs right through Jacksonville and most of I-10 in Florida is a 70mph speed limit. Parts of I-95 are 75mph.

I kept telling him that and he kept ignoring me.

as a side note, when I went to Italy it seemed like all we did was eat. And when you order dinner it is literally a three to four course meal, you actually make four selections..salad, then pasta, then a small meal, then the actual meal, and then they ask if you want dessert....I would argue that some places in Italy are serving more food then some places state side...just my observation...

I can't say much concerning Italy "vs" USA, as I was to the states only once and that was to visit relatives in the middle of nowhere. But the thing with Italy... Italy is a Southern European country and in my experience, they offer that much food because you're only supposed to take a few bites of each. It's the same in France (at least concerning the places I've been to - and I lived in France for almost year).

Plus, the vacationing aspect is BIG in Europe, as far as I know. I mean, when I go on vacation (although admittedly it's usually Turkey) in a resort or hotel complex with "all inclusive" I've noticed that I myself tend to kind of... I don't know, exist to walk from eating opportunity to eating opportunity? I do not do this back home. I got this fat because of sweets and not moving at all, not because of the actual amount of 'regular' food. So basically you'd wake up at 9am --> breakfast. 12pm --> brunch-y thing. 2pm --> lunch. 4 pm --> coffee and cake. 7pm --> dinner. And after that, well... midnight snack or whatever.

Concerning portion sizes in Germany, oh well. I have NEVER finished a plate in a restaurant, I think. It's always so much. So I don't know, I think it's too easy to generalize here. But then again, the stereotypical German eats a lot, drinks a lot of beer and wears a "Lederhose", right? :P

Large portion sizes in the chain restaurants may vary from country to country , but what is more worrying is how there are more obese people than ever in America and the UK. I can remember when I first moved to London 30 years ago and you could spot the american tourist as they would be HUGE , nowadays there are less american tourists (due to both 9/11 and the collapsing american economy) but plenty of HUGE british people. I have never seen so many fat people walking around and it seems to be completely accepted, in my childrens lifetime ie the last 20 years it has exploded, fat people used to be the exception not the norm.
I also have noticed the super sized portions almost everywhere that sells food in America, Canada has normal sized, healthy food. Those are just my personal subjective observations, theyre not digs at american people nor cultural differences, just my own opinions stated without malice

1. Perception of value - more food=money well spent
2. They want more food - greedy *****es :laugh:

Large portion sizes in the chain restaurants may vary from country to country , but what is more worrying is how there are more obese people than ever in America and the UK. I can remember when I first moved to London 30 years ago and you could spot the american tourist as they would be HUGE , nowadays there are less american tourists (due to both 9/11 and the collapsing american economy) but plenty of HUGE british people. I have never seen so many fat people walking around and it seems to be completely accepted, in my childrens lifetime ie the last 20 years it has exploded, fat people used to be the exception not the norm.
I also have noticed the super sized portions almost everywhere that sells food in America, Canada has normal sized, healthy food. Those are just my personal subjective observations, theyre not digs at american people nor cultural differences, just the bare facts

So how did you identify people were tourists or not? Did you speak to every "HUGE" person? What about the not "HUGE" people? Did you poll everyone?

This thread is absolutely ridiculous. I can't even begin to address some of the non sense I've seen.
While my Europe experience is limited I have travelled a bit in the US.

ETA - in case not clear - I am not from the US