tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post116156293439209144..comments2024-02-03T07:12:06.620-05:00Comments on U.S. Food Policy: Things I don't bother to wish for...usfoodpolicyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17098394318544229984noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-1161832246876594492006-10-25T23:10:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:10:00.000-04:00To answer Tery: There's research showing that peop...To answer Tery: There's research showing that people will eat more when it's on the plate, when people next to them are still eating, stuff like that. This was discussed in a recent NYTimes piece, but it's probably in the $archive$ by now. If I'm remembering correctly, the researcher who looks at this is at Cornell (previously somewhere in the Midwest).<BR/><BR/>And apparently Ray Kroc (McDonald's) took major convincing on the "super size" notion - he was of the opinion that people would just order "seconds" if they wanted more. Someone did store-level research to convince him that wasn't true.<BR/><BR/>Finally, Michael Pollan (author of _The Omnivore's Dilemma_) has made the point that when the prices of raw ingredients decreased, restaurants and food companies felt like they couldn't lower the price of foods, so they increased the sizes instead - effectively lowering the cost, but since we have this drive to 'clean the plate' (that's not just a result of early parenting, but built in survival instincts) it's led to our crazy eating patterns. <BR/><BR/>I wonder how many consumers really would push companies to reduce portion sizes in order to reduce calories? Honestly, what percentage of the general public cares, and what percentage wants to 'maximize value'?? I'm aware of all these issues, but I still find myself comparison shopping for value as well as nutrition.Triciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10800864673813334725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-1161647704444576152006-10-23T19:55:00.000-04:002006-10-23T19:55:00.000-04:00Shouldn't we be grownup enough to know when we con...Shouldn't we be grownup enough to know when we consumed enough food? Though I did grow up with my parents making me feel guilty for not finishing my dinner entirely...Tery Spatarohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04775962750814502068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-1161622284124603782006-10-23T12:51:00.000-04:002006-10-23T12:51:00.000-04:00An idea a friend suggested that I liked-- what abo...An idea a friend suggested that I liked-- what about having restaurants offer a smaller portion (for a slightly smaller price), and have "seconds" available for a few dollars more? I'm not sure how realistic such a scenario would be, but it would be interesting to see whether people reconsidered increasing the portions when they had some time to see if they were full first.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com