U.S. food portions: Monuments of decadence?

By Jasmin Melvin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After having dinner at Clyde's in Washington's trendy Chinatown, a young boy sluggishly gets up to follow his family to the exit. His waitress jokes, "You're stuffed, huh?"

The boy lets out a grunt, saying, "Yeah, I'm full. I feel like I'm going to burst," as he ambles to the door.

Such is the response of many customers who venture into the popular restaurant. One waitress said, "It depends on the dish, but I've never gotten a complaint that it's too little."

But with soaring food prices sparking protests in many countries and more than 800 million people going hungry every day, U.S. food portions are under scrutiny. A lightening of the American plate could ease pressure on worldwide demand, but not everyone is hopeful change will be coming any time soon.

With a bombardment of food ads, many aimed at children, Americans are tempted with an array of food choices. One fast-food chain calls its massive burger a "monument to decadence" while the Wendy's chain calls its "Baconator" a "mountain of mouth-watering taste."

Portion sizes in the United States not only exceed those in less-developed countries, but also in the developed world. In fact, Americans have the highest per capita daily consumption in the world, eating 3,770 calories a day, more than a Canadian at 3,590 calories or an Indian at 2,440, according to data from the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization.

"We've looked at large portion sizes almost entirely in terms of whether it's healthy for us, and now we have to consider is that sort of a demand going to be sustainable," said Paul Roberts, author of "The End of Food."

Roberts believes smaller portions would help. "It would probably be a way to take pressure off of grain markets if we somehow convinced people to take smaller portion sizes."

In the United States, food prices are expected to rise 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent this year, which would be the highest increase since 1990.

FEWER GROCERIES

Americans are putting more thought into food buying. High food prices coupled with a slowing economy have led 71 percent of Americans to eat out less and 48 percent are buying fewer groceries, according to the Food Marketing Institute.

Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System," said consumer buying habits are changing, including in the United States.

"But, it's unusual to see it in the United States, where I've seen reports of low income American families doing what low income families in the third world do, which is skipping meals, particularly women skipping meals so their kids can eat," Patel said.

He said there is also a boom in Spam and other low quality meats. "There's certainly a sort of downshift in the quality and sometimes, for the poorest Americans, the quantity of food they're able to afford."

Restaurants are also being hit hard by the rise in food prices.