Poisonous
Portions
Chefs across America are made to answer this big question: who is responsible, chefs or dining customers, for the extraordinarily large portions of food up for consumption everyday in restaurants across the nation. 58% of chefs interviewed for the survey from Pennsylvania State University report their views on it as the diner’s responsibility to eat appropriate amount of food out of the plate given to them by order, even or especially when the dishes served them are of extraordinary portions. Other chefs in part of the survey seem not to see the problem, a mere 17% of a set of 300 chefs admit to producing and serving entrees of large or extra large quantity. The issue is however very real, and a topic of debate in the American Obesity Society that meets every year. There is evidence to support the notion that America is stuffing her dining customers with portions two to four times the size recommended by the government. An American professor of nutritional sciences at New York University set out to restaurants and collected data on the portions being served; finding that the amount of food served was significantly greater that serving sizes recommended when health is the valued goal. Also the rate of wasted food is a heart-wrenching 30% of each plate, enough to solve global starvation problems if correct allocation was instilled. In general, America is staring to notice the phenomenon of large plates, the obligation to serve and eat what is served to you, obesity and just who capitalizes on this unbalanced exchange of supply and demand of food. There has been a steadily increasing rate of food finding its way to customer’s plates since the 1970s in this country, and the only way to bring back nutritional normalcy throughout the nation would be a gradual and restaurant-induced reduction of serving sizes.
source: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-10-21-portions-restaurants_x.htm
