Wednesday, April 06, 2005
The Gluttony of Americans
The gluttony of Americans compared to other nationalities is well known. For example, America has 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's oil consumption. Many people in the world live with 10 or more others in houses about 200 square feet or so, but many Americans live in castles of 2500 square feet or more. Today the gluttony of Americans was brought to me in a dramatic way.
I attended a Toastmasters meeting where a woman was demonstrating the selling of health products. As part of her demonstration, she brought out a typical one-person serving of Chinese food. It was a sweet and sour chicken dish, with rice and sauce. There were about six of us others there, and she fed us all from that one dish. The portion was adequate that I got, although not too great. But I realized that this is a meal for a third world person; in fact, many get less than that. And this woman fed six of us from that one dish that supposedly was for one person.
The overserving of restaurants is one way that the gluttony of Americans shows. Why do restaurants serve such big portions? Because people request them. And they are the most obese in history. Americans need to cut back. It is not healthy, for them or for the World.
I attended a Toastmasters meeting where a woman was demonstrating the selling of health products. As part of her demonstration, she brought out a typical one-person serving of Chinese food. It was a sweet and sour chicken dish, with rice and sauce. There were about six of us others there, and she fed us all from that one dish. The portion was adequate that I got, although not too great. But I realized that this is a meal for a third world person; in fact, many get less than that. And this woman fed six of us from that one dish that supposedly was for one person.
The overserving of restaurants is one way that the gluttony of Americans shows. Why do restaurants serve such big portions? Because people request them. And they are the most obese in history. Americans need to cut back. It is not healthy, for them or for the World.
