I heard her speak on www.sic.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3611.html , a podcast from Stamford to which I subscribe.
She believes that there is twice as much calories available to be eaten in America than what is needed. She stated that in 1980 there was 3200 calories available for consumption for every man woman and child in the US. Today that figure is 3900.
She oultined the the following societal changes that result in increasing obesity in the US
- portion sizes have gotten larger
- ubiquity of options / even book stores and libraries have restaurants and cafes
- proximity of food / more convenience
- frequency of consumption / restaurants and food companies encouraging continuous eating
- cheap prices / until recently 50% of money spent on food is spent on food cooked outside the home
1 comment:
I don't know, but I don't think so. Often it's not the healthy food that is the cheapest, it's the McDonalds set that people claim is the only thing they can "afford". I think that fast food chains will continue to work out how to make their food cheaper, and those people who are already addicted to their food will keep eating. When I went to America, I was SHOCKED by portion sizes and my aunt who has lived in New York for more than 30 years makes it a habit of getting a doggy bag wherever she goes and having the same thing for lunch and dinner (or dinner and tomorrow's lunch). Perhaps that will happen more (instead of the food getting thrown away), or perhaps restaurants that can get away with it will serve smaller portions, but these restaurants are already the more expensive ones. The cheap diner joints are just competing on the size of the mountain of mashed potato they serve.
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