I am convinced that not only do consumers not know what a serving is, but neither does anyone in the food industry.  American’s waistlines are growing due to inactivity and increased food consumption at home and at restaurants.  Part of the problem is “portion distortion” – we don’t know what a standard serving size is.

The idea for this week’s column came as I observed plates being served to customers at an out of town seafood restaurant.  It had been a long time since I visited this particular eatery and I highly recommended it to my husband as our choice for the evening.  After placing our order I said to my husband, “Honey did you see that plate the waitress was taking to serve someone?”  He said, “No what about it?”  I paused and said, “Honestly, I have never seen a plate served anywhere in the with that much seafood on it.”  He thought I was kidding until our entrees arrived.  As the waitress placed the food on the table, I said, “Excuse me, but you must have gotten our order mixed up as this was not what we ordered.”  She confirmed the order, and sure enough, it was what we ordered.  Shocked in disbelief, I asked the waitress, “Is this the serving size always given to customers?”  She replied, “Yes, we make sure people get their money’s worth”. 

 We both immediately requested a take out box.  I filled the container to the rim and still could not eat all the seafood left on my plate.  Now you may think I am exaggerating, but that is a true story.

In our society we have lost sight of what is a serving.  The industry has responded to our request to provide more food for little money.   Not only has the food industry increased serving and portion sizes but consumers ladle out super size servings at the dinner table night after night.  Think for a moment about the serving size you had for dinner last night.  Did you consume a ½ cup of collards or 1 ½ cups? How about those home-style cream potatoes, did you have the standard size ½ cup or a dipper size serving?  Let’s not forget about the barbecue pork you had at the buffet.  How many servings did you have after two trips to the buffet?  I’ll bet it was not 3 ounces.  How about the cereal you had for breakfast, did you have ¾ cup with ½ cup milk or was it more like 2 cups cereal with 1 cup milk?  Anyway, you get my point.

I know I have some skeptics out there who believe they know exactly what a serving is and are convinced they do not over-consume at mealtime.  Well here’s what I would like you to do: 

First of all, pull out a set of measuring cups and place them near the stove or at the dinner table doing meal time.  (Yes, I want you to actually measure out whatever you eat so that you will see what ¼ cup and a ½ cup of food looks like.) After a week of measuring you should have a better idea of what constitutes the various measurements. I will do this along with you because even though I know what a serving size is in most cases, I do not consciously think about placing the correct serving size on my plate.

Large serving sizes can affect OUR size!  Sometimes when we try to prevent food from going to waste, we find it going to our waist and thighs instead. Since knowledge is power, join us again next week as I will be sharing with you a few tips for recognizing “normal” serving sizes and avoiding the draw of larger portions.

Thought to ponder:

I will never forget walking through the airport in and reading a sign that so graphically depicted the realism of my life. ‘Busy people don’t have time for the weight.’ It was then that I suddenly began to understand I was too busy to be carrying all of these pockets, layers, suitcases, and potato sacks around my waist, hips, lips, and fingertips. As captain of this sinking ship, I decided to throw the bags off the sides and sail forward towards my destiny.” -Bishop T.D. Jakes

Christine Smith is an Extension Agent in the department of Family & Consumer Sciences with NC Cooperative Extension, NCSU Information on other services available can be found online at http://wayne.ces.ncsu.edu/