Portly Portions

I’ve been spending a bit of time in New York lately and one thing that amazes me is the size of the portions they eat here. You order a simple sandwich and it arrives with eight pieces of bread which all seem to have been individually fried, then there’s about a kilo of ham in there, plus, a kilo of cheese. And then it is surrounded by fries and a pickle. All on a plate the size of a small tray! So I find myself leaving half of the meal which then makes me feel terrible about the food being wasted when there are people on the streets outside begging for money for food.
So I started asking for the food to take with me and then I give it to the next homeless person I see.
I wasn’t surprised, then, to read this article in the Guardian. It talks about how not so long ago a dinner plate was the size of a side plate and a wine glass was the size of a sherry glass. We had cups of tea in tea cups not mugs, and because food was more scarce, we ate very small portions so that there was enough for everybody.
I’ve bought the book Mindless Eating by academic, Brian Wansink, who has done a lot of research into our changing eating habits. Have a look at his great website www.mindlesseating.org. I’ll let you know next week what I’ve learned when I have read the book.