Honey, I shrunk the plate!

"Skip the plate - place the food right on the table".

I posted this picture on Facebook this week because my mind couldn't get around the fact that, with all we know about health and diet et al, any restaurant could justify serving this as a single serving for a meal!  Yes really, one meal, one serving!  This is not about slamming any one establishment or food style or even a regional food tradition, but, in my humble opinion, food should (at the very least) fit on a, as in ON ONE, plate - with vegetables!

Something is very askew if we don't question this kind of gluttony.  There is so much wrong with this picture on so many levels :-
1.  Our bodies are just not equipped to tackle this much food.
2.  I know it was a joke growing up, but there really are starving children in Africa.  It saddens me that the worlds food is not distributed more evenly - we truly live in the "have" society of today when so many are on the polar opposite side and ... "have not".
3.  Sustainable resource concerns; rearing livestock is one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems including water and land degradation and greenhouse gas production.
4.  Examples to our next generation.  As portion sizes grow (and they have done so in a major way in the last 30 or so years) the next generation gets a wildly distorted message about "what's normal".

The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave... America has always been on the forefront of innovation, science and development of the new and exciting.  And yet here we stand on the front lines of obesity and gluttony.  The growth of food portions makes my head spin...  Do we really want our kids and grandkids to think that the enormous portions of highly processed food, served in today's establishments and homes, is the "norm"?

Pictures say more than words....

On the good side - and balance is important:  We have also seen a surge in availability of many more varieties and hybrids of wonderful, tasty and sustainable produce.  That, coupled with a plethora of locally produced crops available on every main street, means that great and healthy eating is within our reach every day.  Don't neglect your farmers markets - they're still going strong this summer.  Lets grow those portions instead!

Next week in the Meeting Room - come and brainstorm with us about "Sensible Shopping" and "Supermarket Strategies".  See you then ...