I should feel affronted but sadly it's true. I think the issue of obesity and wasteful gluttony has gotten worse since I moved away 20 years ago, or maybe I just didn't notice it as much when I was surrounded by it. I myself am technically in the obese category but I'm practically wasting away compared to many of my compatriots. It is variable depending on where you go, though. A buffet restaurant is going to attract the worst of us, though.
I have witnessed the same greed in the UK. 'All you can eat' for a set price can bring out the worst in people, almost as if it's a point of honour to get anything going if it's free. I sat at the next table to a family and couldn't believe what I was hearing as they each ordered their breakfasts with several sausages, multiple eggs, rashers of bacon, every accompaniment on the menu. I left before their food arrived, wondering how it would fit on the plates.....and how they could possibly eat it all, or move afterwards.
When I went to the US about 20 years ago I was told I 'eat like a bird'. This was back when I ate a lot more than I do now too. Food standards over there are terrible. Loads of foods contain stuff that's banned in Europe and even things like sliced bread contains about half a teaspoon of sugar per slice.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Mentioning sugar - wasn't there a prog about how they encouraged corn production in the US, then had a massive glut, so turned the corn into corn syrup, which was then duly added to everything they could think of, fuelling their obesity crisis.
Didn't we go down a similar route - my parents grew up during the war, where fat wasn't frowned on but sugar hard to get. Very few obese people - then post war, fat is seen to be bad, but sugar good - so everything contains sugar to make it 'palatable' and suddenly we all start ballooning.
Have been to LAX a few times, but stayed with my brother and his wife. Yes, pizzas and take aways are huge. I didn't like the amount of ice in a drink - too cold for my throat!! Enjoyed the food when we went out though. Had a memorable Thanksgiving dinner a while back.
Here is a recipe for socca niçoise which I often make for lunch with chopped tomatoes etc. Quite yummy and refreshing on a hot summer's day - washed down with a glass of chilled rosé. Good as a starter too.
@Woodgreen I agree, it's certainly not a purely American problem. Years ago, probably in the late 80s, we were invited to the evening 'do' following the wedding of a woman I worked with. When the announcement was made that the buffet was ready, we were nearly killed in the stampede by a family which would have been big even by American standards. They loaded their plates so high that they had to use one hand to hold the food on the plate. They then proceeded to take one or two bites out of an item and then dump it back on the plate. End result was not only a terrible waste of food but a number of others not getting anything at all.
I was in the supermarket today and saw a man that was so obese, that he had to sit in one of those motorised buggy things to get around the store. The saddest thing was to see his obese 12/13 year old daughter walking behind. What chance has she got?
It's very easy to criticize the US when discussing obesity but here in the UK, it's also a big problem. I left the UK in 2003 to live in mainland Europe. No visits back but on my return some 9 years later, I noticed 3 things very quickly which hadn't particularly struck me before. 1. The amount of litter just lying about everywhere. 2. The number of extremely fat people - both adults and children. 3. The use of motorised chairs/buggies. This one I obviously couldn't tell why they were in use but a heck of a lot seemed to be by horrendously overweight people. Don't know about the portions you get here in the UK - haven't eaten out or had a takeaway for donkey's years but it doesn't sound very promising given some of the posts on here.
When I was last in Florida, we resorted to ordering one meal and then splitting it beteween the two of us. I still managed to put on weight. A Restaurant we ate at had a family sat down to eat. A huge platter of food was put on the table, I thought it was for all of them, wrong, just for one person, more followed for the others.
I don't know how much social benefits they get in the USA, but My 600 pound life is an eye opener. They are all on benefits, not worked in a long time, but manage to put up to 8000 calories a day away. Salad (if eaten) has half a bottle of dressing on it. They all have apps on the phone so the door opens and three giant pizzas arrive with a brownie sized for 8 people as an extra. They all think Dr Nowzaradan has a magic wand and that a gastric sleeve or whatever will turn them into a svelte person overnight without any change in habits on their part. Its like watching a car crash, you know you really ought not watch but you can't stop it.
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I sat at the next table to a family and couldn't believe what I was hearing as they each ordered their breakfasts with several sausages, multiple eggs, rashers of bacon, every accompaniment on the menu.
I left before their food arrived, wondering how it would fit on the plates.....and how they could possibly eat it all, or move afterwards.
Here is a recipe for socca niçoise which I often make for lunch with chopped tomatoes etc. Quite yummy and refreshing on a hot summer's day - washed down with a glass of chilled rosé. Good as a starter too.
https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/socca-nicoise/
I left the UK in 2003 to live in mainland Europe. No visits back but on my return some 9 years later, I noticed 3 things very quickly which hadn't particularly struck me before.
1. The amount of litter just lying about everywhere.
2. The number of extremely fat people - both adults and children.
3. The use of motorised chairs/buggies. This one I obviously couldn't tell why they were in use but a heck of a lot seemed to be by horrendously overweight people.
Don't know about the portions you get here in the UK - haven't eaten out or had a takeaway for donkey's years but it doesn't sound very promising given some of the posts on here.