Why are US meal portions so big??
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(those that offered "continental breakfast")
I decent one will have eggs and some kind of sausage or something. But a lot of them are just crap. Those are NOT what most Americans eat for breakfast, at home or in restaurants.
When I go out for breakfast, I get a veggie omelet, toast and maybe some yogurt. At home, I rarely eat breakfast at all.0 -
Wow.... :huh:
A little stunned by that exchange. :noway:
To make the OP look like she is somehow ignorant or narrow minded by pointing out the bleeding obvious that US portion sizes are fe**in mahoossive???? That's so close to being a universal truth it's not even worth debating....
^^^ Bah ha ha ha! :laugh: Love you lots!0 -
(those that offered "continental breakfast")
I decent one will have eggs and some kind of sausage or something. But a lot of them are just crap. Those are NOT what most Americans eat for breakfast, at home or in restaurants.
When I go out for breakfast, I get a veggie omelet, toast and maybe some yogurt. At home, I rarely eat breakfast at all.
The sausage was deep fried on all cases (if they had it) or there was bacon-cream thingy.. so sure in that case it was not as sweet but instead loads of fat.. great. I didnt say it was what most americans ate, I specifically said hotels which OFCOURSE will be different from what a person eats at home. What mostly bothered me was the lack of protein in the milk products.. way too sweet. But again HOTEL not HOME
Restaurant food was still either very very sweet or bathed in fat souce.. or both.. I did get fresh veggies at one place (probably the fanciest place we went to) after being "difficult" with the waiter.. he was sweet enough to make sure a bit of salad without any souce was put on my plate Also we managed to get fresh pinapple juice (still sweet but not killer sweet) at the Cheescake factory after explaining how one of us had allergies to any other kind of fruit and how we were reacting badly to the chloro..smthng (english word escapes me) that was in the water.
We did try to buy foodstuff for the roadtrip at Walmart.. big mistake.. well.. we did come out with a big pack of water! and some beef jerky.. so that was something 0 -
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.
Not quite sure what motorways have to do with this thread.....
Like I said though, I am sure there are restaurents in the US where the portion sizes are normal. However, that was not my experience. This is not me trying to be xenophobic or offensive, this is me explaining my experience of the US.0 -
Walmart has fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables.(those that offered "continental breakfast")
I decent one will have eggs and some kind of sausage or something. But a lot of them are just crap. Those are NOT what most Americans eat for breakfast, at home or in restaurants.
When I go out for breakfast, I get a veggie omelet, toast and maybe some yogurt. At home, I rarely eat breakfast at all.
The sausage was deep fried on all cases (if they had it) or there was bacon-cream thingy.. so sure in that case it was not as sweet but instead loads of fat.. great. I didnt say it was what most americans ate, I specifically said hotels which OFCOURSE will be different from what a person eats at home. What mostly bothered me was the lack of protein in the milk products.. way too sweet. But again HOTEL not HOME Restaurant food was still either very very sweet or bathed in fat souce.. or both.. I did get fresh veggies at one place (probably the fanciest place we went to) after being "difficult" with the waiter.. he was sweet enough to make sure a bit of salad without any souce was put on my plate Also we managed to get fresh pinapple juice (still sweet but not killer sweet) at the Cheescake factory after explaining how one of us had allergies to any other kind of fruit and how we were reacting badly to the chloro..smthng (english word escapes me) that was in the water.
We did try to buy foodstuff for the roadtrip at Walmart.. big mistake.. well.. we did come out with a big pack of water! and some beef jerky.. so that was something
I kind of feel like you're making things up here because you make no sense at all. "Lack of protein in the milk products"??? Nothing is done to our milk products except pasteurizing. They don't add sugar to it. They don't add sugar to strawberries. Pineapple juice is never anything more than a juiced pineapple.
I can't understand how our STRAWBERRIES are sweeter than anywhere else, except maybe because Florida and Georgia have better climates for growing them than other places? Or they're fresher? I mean, they're strawberries. The grow out of the ground, you pick them and eat them.
You seem to be critical for the sake of criticizing.0 -
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.
Not quite sure what motorways have to do with this thread.....
Like I said though, I am sure there are restaurents in the US where the portion sizes are normal. However, that was not my experience. This is not me trying to be xenophobic or offensive, this is me explaining my experience of the US.
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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
because I was standing near enough in the bars or food chains to hear the american accent, okay? not to mention the hawaiin shirts/short checked shorts/rucksack combos in the dead of winter0 -
My point was that people come here from other countries and make assumptions based on a VERY limited exposure. He was telling me that you can't drive 70mph on American highways and you can. Just like people visiting from other countries make judgments about our food and nothing we say can change your minds.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.
Not quite sure what motorways have to do with this thread.....
Like I said though, I am sure there are restaurents in the US where the portion sizes are normal. However, that was not my experience. This is not me trying to be xenophobic or offensive, this is me explaining my experience of the US.0 -
A friend who has a job studying buying habits for a major supermarket told me of a study that a fast food chain did to determine how they could increase profits at the same time that the number of "stomachs" (their jargon, really) coming through the doors was steady. This is when things went to "supersize" because the way to make more money was to move more product through the same number of stomachs....it didn't matter if it was thrown out or eaten, it was sold and so it was profitable.
Of course since a lot of us grew up with the depression era "don't waste food, think of all the starving children in..." training we ate the whole thing.
Now if we eat out we generally can go for three dinners on Chinese food leftovers, maybe 4 on BBQ (the price of entry is high but ordering the big size creates value for money) and two days on a typical meal at a restaurant.
The trick is to always go home with doggie bags and have a big fridge.0 -
My point was that people come here from other countries and make assumptions based on a VERY limited exposure. He was telling me that you can't drive 70mph on American highways and you can. Just like people visiting from other countries make judgments about our food and nothing we say can change your minds.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.
Not quite sure what motorways have to do with this thread.....
Like I said though, I am sure there are restaurents in the US where the portion sizes are normal. However, that was not my experience. This is not me trying to be xenophobic or offensive, this is me explaining my experience of the US.
Some will look at only the evidence that supports their pre-conceived conclusions, and ignore all evidence to the contrary. It allows them to be "correct" and close off their minds. Look at this thread. There is no sense in debating with these types because they will never dig deeper into the subject matter, and certainly won't change their minds. Racism, xenophobia, sexism, IMHO it all derives from a similar mindset.0 -
Walmart has fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables.(those that offered "continental breakfast")
I decent one will have eggs and some kind of sausage or something. But a lot of them are just crap. Those are NOT what most Americans eat for breakfast, at home or in restaurants.
When I go out for breakfast, I get a veggie omelet, toast and maybe some yogurt. At home, I rarely eat breakfast at all.
The sausage was deep fried on all cases (if they had it) or there was bacon-cream thingy.. so sure in that case it was not as sweet but instead loads of fat.. great. I didnt say it was what most americans ate, I specifically said hotels which OFCOURSE will be different from what a person eats at home. What mostly bothered me was the lack of protein in the milk products.. way too sweet. But again HOTEL not HOME Restaurant food was still either very very sweet or bathed in fat souce.. or both.. I did get fresh veggies at one place (probably the fanciest place we went to) after being "difficult" with the waiter.. he was sweet enough to make sure a bit of salad without any souce was put on my plate Also we managed to get fresh pinapple juice (still sweet but not killer sweet) at the Cheescake factory after explaining how one of us had allergies to any other kind of fruit and how we were reacting badly to the chloro..smthng (english word escapes me) that was in the water.
We did try to buy foodstuff for the roadtrip at Walmart.. big mistake.. well.. we did come out with a big pack of water! and some beef jerky.. so that was something
I kind of feel like you're making things up here because you make no sense at all. "Lack of protein in the milk products"??? Nothing is done to our milk products except pasteurizing. They don't add sugar to it. They don't add sugar to strawberries. Pineapple juice is never anything more than a juiced pineapple.
I can't understand how our STRAWBERRIES are sweeter than anywhere else, except maybe because Florida and Georgia have better climates for growing them than other places? Or they're fresher? I mean, they're strawberries. The grow out of the ground, you pick them and eat them.
You seem to be critical for the sake of criticizing.
the funny part is you have the same questions I have..
Why is there so little protein in your milk products? Honestly I dont know why.. what I did was look at the labels and compare it to what I eat here and there was a big difference. I am not a dairyfarmer nor do I work anywhere near the milk industry so I dont know. ETA: both at the hotels and when I was trying to buy something to eat at Walmart.. probably other milkproducts elsewhere yadayadayada...
Why are your strawberries sweeter? Again, I am not a farmer.. but they were sweeter (yes I had them more than once, from more than one source). Perhaps they are grown that way (choosing to fertilize the sweetest plants untill you get a crop that is in general sweeter than what has been chosen to be grown here)? Same with the pineapplejuice probably.
Why is the Coke sweeter? Actually I have heard that its because they use a different recipy and ingredient.. the Icelandic Coka Cola producer prides themselfs of the water used for example. For the record Icelandic Coke tastes different from UK Coke as well. UK coke tastes different from US coke. Probably the recipy.. but why they feel the need to have it so much sweeter I dont know.
Walmart did have a section with fresh fruit.. but for a roadtrip without a cooler that isnt going to go very well.. We did buy pears and apples though.. again the same as with strawberries and again probably because whoever grew them choose to grow them that way.
I am not making this up, really I am not. Perhaps if you come for a visit I can let you taste the difference.0 -
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
because I was standing near enough in the bars or food chains to hear the american accent, okay? not to mention the hawaiin shirts/short checked shorts/rucksack combos in the dead of winter
:laugh:0 -
Just for the record the poster who said Big Macs were the same size across all countries is wrong. According to McDonalds own website a Big Mac is 550 calories in the United States and 490 in the United Kingdom , it is a geographically localised product0
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Those were not MY questions. Those were quotes of YOUR questions.
Walmart has fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables.(those that offered "continental breakfast")
I decent one will have eggs and some kind of sausage or something. But a lot of them are just crap. Those are NOT what most Americans eat for breakfast, at home or in restaurants.
When I go out for breakfast, I get a veggie omelet, toast and maybe some yogurt. At home, I rarely eat breakfast at all.
The sausage was deep fried on all cases (if they had it) or there was bacon-cream thingy.. so sure in that case it was not as sweet but instead loads of fat.. great. I didnt say it was what most americans ate, I specifically said hotels which OFCOURSE will be different from what a person eats at home. What mostly bothered me was the lack of protein in the milk products.. way too sweet. But again HOTEL not HOME Restaurant food was still either very very sweet or bathed in fat souce.. or both.. I did get fresh veggies at one place (probably the fanciest place we went to) after being "difficult" with the waiter.. he was sweet enough to make sure a bit of salad without any souce was put on my plate Also we managed to get fresh pinapple juice (still sweet but not killer sweet) at the Cheescake factory after explaining how one of us had allergies to any other kind of fruit and how we were reacting badly to the chloro..smthng (english word escapes me) that was in the water.
We did try to buy foodstuff for the roadtrip at Walmart.. big mistake.. well.. we did come out with a big pack of water! and some beef jerky.. so that was something
I kind of feel like you're making things up here because you make no sense at all. "Lack of protein in the milk products"??? Nothing is done to our milk products except pasteurizing. They don't add sugar to it. They don't add sugar to strawberries. Pineapple juice is never anything more than a juiced pineapple.
I can't understand how our STRAWBERRIES are sweeter than anywhere else, except maybe because Florida and Georgia have better climates for growing them than other places? Or they're fresher? I mean, they're strawberries. The grow out of the ground, you pick them and eat them.
You seem to be critical for the sake of criticizing.
the funny part is you have the same questions I have..
Why is there so little protein in your milk products? Honestly I dont know why.. what I did was look at the labels and compare it to what I eat here and there was a big difference. I am not a dairyfarmer nor do I work anywhere near the milk industry so I dont know.
Why are your strawberries sweeter? Again, I am not a farmer.. but they were sweeter (yes I had them more than once, from more than one source). Perhaps they are grown that way (choosing to fertilize the sweetest plants untill you get a crop that is in general sweeter than what has been chosen to be grown here)? Same with the pineapplejuice probably.
Why is the Coke sweeter? Actually I have heard that its because they use a different recipy and ingredient.. the Icelandic Coka Cola producer prides themselfs of the water used for example. For the record Icelandic Coke tastes different from UK Coke as well. UK coke tastes different from US coke. Probably the recipy.. but why they feel the need to have it so much sweeter I dont know.
Walmart did have a section with fresh fruit.. but for a roadtrip without a cooler that isnt going to go very well.. We did buy pears and apples though.. again the same as with strawberries and again probably because whoever grew them choose to grow them that way.
I am not making this up, really I am not. Perhaps if you come for a visit I can let you taste the difference.
I can see the soft drinks being sweeter/a different recipe. But fruit? Come on. The only reason I can think of is superior growing climate and therefore superior quality of fruit. Strawberries and apples are supposed to be sweet. However, with apples, it depends on variety. Red Delicious are not very sweet at all while a Fuji will be very much so.
I never drink soda, personally. I don't like it.0 -
because I was standing near enough in the bars or food chains to hear the american accent, okay? not to mention the hawaiin shirts/short checked shorts/rucksack combos in the dead of winter
:laugh:
This exchange has assured me there is no confirmation bias going on in this thread.
(If I saw someone dressed like that, I would wonder if he were a tourist thinking he is dressing "American" as I've never seen anyone dressed like that around my state. I've especially never seen that in the dead of winter. No one likes frost bite.)0 -
Those were not MY questions. Those were quotes of YOUR questions.
Walmart has fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables.(those that offered "continental breakfast")
I decent one will have eggs and some kind of sausage or something. But a lot of them are just crap. Those are NOT what most Americans eat for breakfast, at home or in restaurants.
When I go out for breakfast, I get a veggie omelet, toast and maybe some yogurt. At home, I rarely eat breakfast at all.
The sausage was deep fried on all cases (if they had it) or there was bacon-cream thingy.. so sure in that case it was not as sweet but instead loads of fat.. great. I didnt say it was what most americans ate, I specifically said hotels which OFCOURSE will be different from what a person eats at home. What mostly bothered me was the lack of protein in the milk products.. way too sweet. But again HOTEL not HOME Restaurant food was still either very very sweet or bathed in fat souce.. or both.. I did get fresh veggies at one place (probably the fanciest place we went to) after being "difficult" with the waiter.. he was sweet enough to make sure a bit of salad without any souce was put on my plate Also we managed to get fresh pinapple juice (still sweet but not killer sweet) at the Cheescake factory after explaining how one of us had allergies to any other kind of fruit and how we were reacting badly to the chloro..smthng (english word escapes me) that was in the water.
We did try to buy foodstuff for the roadtrip at Walmart.. big mistake.. well.. we did come out with a big pack of water! and some beef jerky.. so that was something
I kind of feel like you're making things up here because you make no sense at all. "Lack of protein in the milk products"??? Nothing is done to our milk products except pasteurizing. They don't add sugar to it. They don't add sugar to strawberries. Pineapple juice is never anything more than a juiced pineapple.
I can't understand how our STRAWBERRIES are sweeter than anywhere else, except maybe because Florida and Georgia have better climates for growing them than other places? Or they're fresher? I mean, they're strawberries. The grow out of the ground, you pick them and eat them.
You seem to be critical for the sake of criticizing.
the funny part is you have the same questions I have..
Why is there so little protein in your milk products? Honestly I dont know why.. what I did was look at the labels and compare it to what I eat here and there was a big difference. I am not a dairyfarmer nor do I work anywhere near the milk industry so I dont know.
Why are your strawberries sweeter? Again, I am not a farmer.. but they were sweeter (yes I had them more than once, from more than one source). Perhaps they are grown that way (choosing to fertilize the sweetest plants untill you get a crop that is in general sweeter than what has been chosen to be grown here)? Same with the pineapplejuice probably.
Why is the Coke sweeter? Actually I have heard that its because they use a different recipy and ingredient.. the Icelandic Coka Cola producer prides themselfs of the water used for example. For the record Icelandic Coke tastes different from UK Coke as well. UK coke tastes different from US coke. Probably the recipy.. but why they feel the need to have it so much sweeter I dont know.
Walmart did have a section with fresh fruit.. but for a roadtrip without a cooler that isnt going to go very well.. We did buy pears and apples though.. again the same as with strawberries and again probably because whoever grew them choose to grow them that way.
I am not making this up, really I am not. Perhaps if you come for a visit I can let you taste the difference.
I can see the soft drinks being sweeter/a different recipe. But fruit? Come on. The only reason I can think of is superior growing climate and therefore superior quality of fruit. Strawberries and apples are supposed to be sweet. However, with apples, it depends on variety. Red Delicious are not very sweet at all while a Fuji will be very much so.
I never drink soda, personally. I don't like it.
I extrapolated from your questions to me.
Have you tasted fruit from other countries? Are you aware that you can grow different strains to get different taste? Just look at apples, the shade of redness/greeness can usually tell you how soure/sweet they will be.
Have you looked at the labels of dairybased (or any based) products from other countries and compared?
Good for you to not drink soda.. but when you find out you cant drink the tabwater because too high chlorine (?is that the word?) in it then you HAVE to look at alternatives. C'mon I even had to check the label for WATER cause it being called water didnt guarentee that it was just water! *grumble*
You are taking this way too personal.. you act as if this is an attack on your country, rather than what it is - a statement of what I found different in the locations I went to as oposed to what I am used to from home, the country I am living in now, and the countries I am used to visiting.
It would be as if a british person would act all offended when I comment on how early in the day they drink! People going out to pubs right after work! Or a norwegian being offended when I say they eat way too early.. c'mon dinner at 5? I am barely done with my tea then!0 -
Maybe she was in southern Florida?
because I was standing near enough in the bars or food chains to hear the american accent, okay? not to mention the hawaiin shirts/short checked shorts/rucksack combos in the dead of winter
:laugh:
This exchange has assured me there is no confirmation bias going on in this thread.
(If I saw someone dressed like that, I would wonder if he were a tourist thinking he is dressing "American" as I've never seen anyone dressed like that around my state. I've especially never seen that in the dead of winter. No one likes frost bite.)
I grew up in New York. People did not dress like that in the middle of winter. And you can't really tell a Canadian accent from a Northeastern US accent. (I have spent enough time in Canada and had several Canadian friends, so I know this is true. They don't all have that distinctive "eh" thing.)0 -
The answer to "Why are US meal portions so big" seems to be "Because diners expect to be able to bring home leftovers".
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, but I want to ask the question - if you went out to eat, and the portions were smaller, and not suitable for bringing home leftovers, would you be unhappy?
(I am in Ireland - it is quite rare to bring home leftovers, the portion sizes in the places I eat are about the same as you might make at home, or only a little bit larger - not enough to bother bringing home, you just leave the little bit left on the plate if you're finished).0 -
I can see the soft drinks being sweeter/a different recipe. But fruit? Come on. The only reason I can think of is superior growing climate and therefore superior quality of fruit. Strawberries and apples are supposed to be sweet. However, with apples, it depends on variety. Red Delicious are not very sweet at all while a Fuji will be very much so.
I never drink soda, personally. I don't like it.
Don't people outside of America experience different flavors of fruit depending on the time of the year, the supplier, the crop? I can buy amazingly sweet strawberries one week and be disappointed the next time. It's the crap shoot of buying fruit and not something made from an exact recipe in the same conditions in a factory.0 -
Maybe because you're complaining about fresh fruit and water and because people constantly bash the US. It gets tiring.
You are taking this way too personal.. you act as if this is an attack on your country, rather than what it is0
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