Ask for a coke in almost any bar or cafe in Europe and you'll be served a 200ml bottle. Buy a portion of french fries from a snack bar and you'll usually get a palm-sized portion on a paper tray.
French schools serve real food on real plates - a portion of moules marinière or escargot would be completely familiar fare to most french kids. Even lardy Britain is changing school meals from mere fuel to an integral part of a child's education.
American food culture is one of abundance - eating large quantities of the richest foods. The humblest of American meals are based around meat in great quantity. Italians still eat a prima piatti of something cheap and filling before a relatively small secondi piatti of meat or fish, a cultural legacy from harder times when meat of any sort was a treat.
The tide is certainly turning and obesity rates are soaring, but the difference in rates is largely accounted for by cultural difference. The French rightly see it as a crisis that students don't want to sit down for meals anymore. Most of Europe sees food as a vitally important political and social issue.
French schools serve real food on real plates - a portion of moules marinière or escargot would be completely familiar fare to most french kids. Even lardy Britain is changing school meals from mere fuel to an integral part of a child's education.
American food culture is one of abundance - eating large quantities of the richest foods. The humblest of American meals are based around meat in great quantity. Italians still eat a prima piatti of something cheap and filling before a relatively small secondi piatti of meat or fish, a cultural legacy from harder times when meat of any sort was a treat.
The tide is certainly turning and obesity rates are soaring, but the difference in rates is largely accounted for by cultural difference. The French rightly see it as a crisis that students don't want to sit down for meals anymore. Most of Europe sees food as a vitally important political and social issue.