Smallist

According to the telegraph, the British Food Standards Agency is requesting that manufacturers make smaller portions more widely available. Specifically, it sounds like they want to see items like 100 calorie-packs labeled for individual sale, taking the place of typically larger vending machine products.

Sounds good. I know for a fact that “fun size” purchases by-the-bag are my caloric undoing. The problem is that the entire bag is a much funner fun-size. My solution, to date, has been to hide them in a high pantry where there’s a greater barrier to entry. But putting them in a vending machine would work too. That way I’d never get one — it’d get stuck on the spiral. And the collected money could go to the gym membership I’m not using.

Remember how I mentioned a press release a few weeks ago, about TGI Fridays serving smaller portioned meals? Well the NY Times has a great article on the subject of restaurant and fast food portions which covers this point. It also covers the short cappuccino. All of which makes me think maybe I’m onto something here. There’s also a little on the Big Gulp:

Then, in the mid-1970s, a Coke representative tried to sell 7-Eleven on the idea of a 32-ounce cup for its struggling fountain-drink business. Dennis Potts, a midlevel manager at 7-Eleven at the time, said he thought the cups were “absolutely insane” because they were so big, but he accepted two free cases and gave them to a store to try.

The next Monday, the franchisee called, asking for more cups. The Big Gulp was born. The 32-ounce drink cost the same as a 16-ounce bottle of soda, then about 40 cents.

A great read. And the article references a book I’ll have to get for myself, Fat Land. I swore to myself I’d stop buying books with “How” in the title, but I’ll make an exception for this. Thanks, Kottke, for reading the paper today!

Vegetable gardening in containers. Keep it legal, kids.

There’s some basic, no-nonsense diet advice that’s pretty much the undisputed consensus. Here’s the things everyone agrees on:

• Eat lots of small meals throughout the day.
• Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Avoid excessive, unrefined carbs.
• Eat fewer calories altogether.

These are all good tips, but there’s minor catch 22 due to a hidden variable: Preparation time. To eat fresh food and fewer carbs tends to increase preparation time, because vegetables have to be chopped, and ready-to-eat processed foods tend to be high-carb. Meanwhile, the economy of scale favors larger meals: if you’re going to chop broccoli, you may as well chop it all.

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So, it’s confirmed: Starbucks has a “short cappucino” at a reduced rate. And it’s tasty. This made the rounds in a Slate article a while back, but I thought I’d elucidate with graphs, because that’s the fun kind of guy I am. Here’s a little slide show that’ll demonstrate:

The lesson: Keep an eye on Adam Smith’s invisible hand. You never know where it’s been.

Test your portion IQ. Muffins are like 6-8 slices of bread? The big takeaway here: never leave your house, or at least don’t eat if you do.

Or split an entree. If they charge you a plate fee, it’ll still be cheaper than two dinners and a lot less fattening. If they don’t, be sure to tip as though you got two entrees: it’s just as much work for the server.

Not much here but a press-release, but at least one Austin area T.G.I. Fridays will start selling smaller-portioned meals at a lower price.

I had no idea this existed. You can order a half-pint of beer in most pubs. This one was purchased at Kevin St. James in midtown Manhattan. 3 bucks worth of Stella! If you can nurse these like a cocktail, you’ll get through the craziest night half-drunk and half-broke. And you’ll spend half the time in the bathroom. Think of the variety you can get! Picture taken by Sandra.