Comments on: American Wasteland http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/26/american-wasteland/ Where science collides with life, slams into culture, crashes with politics, and gets totaled. Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:28:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Geoffrey Frasz http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/26/american-wasteland/#comment-68370 Geoffrey Frasz Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:42:47 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/?p=11948#comment-68370 A local Las Vegas pig farmer has made deals with several Vegas resorts to have leftover food from restaurants in the casino/resorts shipped up to his pig farm for the animals to chow on. No word yet on which buffet the pigs prefer. A local Las Vegas pig farmer has made deals with several Vegas resorts to have leftover food from restaurants in the casino/resorts shipped up to his pig farm for the animals to chow on. No word yet on which buffet the pigs prefer.

]]> By: tontoadam http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/26/american-wasteland/#comment-68347 tontoadam Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:16:32 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/?p=11948#comment-68347 Before we jump off the deep end into "sensible" portions in the restaurant business, we should examine the economics of restaurants. Portion size has increased so that the restaurant can charge enough to cover significant fixed expenses as well as the variable ones associated with quantity of people served. Food, actually, is a very small percentage of a restaurant's cost structure. So by giving more of it, regardless of whether it's consumed, they can "leverage up" the average ticket, bring more to the bottom line. I have not done an analysis, but I imagine restaurant chains are significantly more "leveraged" than the local, locally supplied restaurant. Their portion control is directly driven by profit algorithms: more food on the plate = higher ticket and, as noted earlier, the cost of raw materials is negligible. Most Americans, apparently, have not associated this super-sizing with their own super-sizing. Further, they do associate more and bigger with better. This will be a tough sell and I have more faith in Darwinian solutions than a great American buy-in of these ideas. Before we jump off the deep end into “sensible” portions in the restaurant business, we should examine the economics of restaurants. Portion size has increased so that the restaurant can charge enough to cover significant fixed expenses as well as the variable ones associated with quantity of people served.

Food, actually, is a very small percentage of a restaurant’s cost structure. So by giving more of it, regardless of whether it’s consumed, they can “leverage up” the average ticket, bring more to the bottom line.

I have not done an analysis, but I imagine restaurant chains are significantly more “leveraged” than the local, locally supplied restaurant. Their portion control is directly driven by profit algorithms: more food on the plate = higher ticket and, as noted earlier, the cost of raw materials is negligible.

Most Americans, apparently, have not associated this super-sizing with their own super-sizing. Further, they do associate more and bigger with better. This will be a tough sell and I have more faith in Darwinian solutions than a great American buy-in of these ideas.

]]> By: oz http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/26/american-wasteland/#comment-68344 oz Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:44:26 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/?p=11948#comment-68344 When eating at a restaurant, my wife only ever eats half of what's on her plate; At every restaurant there is lots of food being wasted at every meal, multiplied by the millions of diners across the world at any given time; Letting people choose a portion that will actually eat will result in a lot less waste, but of course that's only half the story; restaurants an grocery stores discard tons of edible, if slightly imperfect, food all the time. Like bags of mixed greens that're a day over thier sell-by date and must be discarded, whether they're fit to eat or not! When eating at a restaurant, my wife only ever eats half of what’s on her plate; At every restaurant there is lots of food being wasted at every meal, multiplied by the millions of diners across the world at any given time; Letting people choose a portion that will actually eat will result in a lot less waste, but of course that’s only half the story; restaurants an grocery stores discard tons of edible, if slightly imperfect, food all the time. Like bags of mixed greens that’re a day over thier sell-by date and must be discarded, whether they’re fit to eat or not!

]]> By: MartyM http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/26/american-wasteland/#comment-68276 MartyM Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:42:54 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/?p=11948#comment-68276 This country should be encouraging restaurants to offer smaller portioned meals for less money. Give the customer a choice on portion size. This will reduce waste and waist sizes. A few do offer "half" sizes, but not very many. TGI Friday was offering "the right size for the right price" portions (don't know if they still do). This country should be encouraging restaurants to offer smaller portioned meals for less money. Give the customer a choice on portion size. This will reduce waste and waist sizes. A few do offer “half” sizes, but not very many. TGI Friday was offering “the right size for the right price” portions (don’t know if they still do).

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