Why Americans die younger than Brits. And Canucks, Aussies and Japanese...

[Barrister]

I remember watching some show that featured a famous deli in New York.  They served pastrami sandwiches there, which looked way too oversized.  The place's manager was talking about his sandwiches, and said that if his cutomer ever managed to finish their pastrami sandwich, then they feel like they made a mistake.   

No further logic was offered to explain why they think that way.  I love pastrami sandwiches, but I resolved to never eat in that deli after seeing that piece (of course, I forgot what that deli was, so I'll never eat pastrami sandwiches anywhere in Manhattan, just to be safe).  Being boastful of both gluttony and waste of food seems very degenerate to me.

I think I know the place you are talking about. Great sandwiches. They are always on the travel channel.

Wish I could remember the name. dammit.

I think there are several that are exactly like that.  I know I was at one of them.  Giant sandwich the size of your head.

[dps]

"Medical insurance for all might help."

Not damn likely.  People are out of shape because they don't take care of themselves--we eat too much (and often the wrong foods), we drink too much, we smoke (and any tobacco is probably too much) and we don't get enough exercise.  And we know this without having to go to the doctor to find it out.  More affordable health care isn't going to help us or force us to practice preventative medicine when we could pretty much do that for free anyway if we wanted to.

[Malthus]

This is generalizing of course, but food tends to be cheap in the US in comparison to Europe (I think we are probably comparing the US to Europe). The result of that is American restaurants may be a bit wasteful on the portion side to make sure that the customer doesn't leave hungry.

Actually, the comparison here is with Canada. Dunno if food is cheaper in the US vs. Canada. I assume not, or not very.

I think the explaination is more likely cultural than economic.

Is America really so different than Canada? If CC was to compare Vancouver to Seattle or San Fransisco, would there be a difference? I don't know if there is a Canadian counterpart to Orlando, but your national dish is poutine, isn't it?

It's a question of portion sizes, not content.

Many Canadian travellers to the US comment on this - the portions just seem bigger in restaurants. Noticably so.

This is purely anecdotal - I dunno if anyone has actually done any research on relative portion sizes across the border. But it is certainly a common perception.

[DGuller]

I think I know the place you are talking about. Great sandwiches.

Better than Triple Stacker? 

[Capetan Mihali]

I remember watching some show that featured a famous deli in New York.  They served pastrami sandwiches there, which looked way too oversized.  The place's manager was talking about his sandwiches, and said that if his cutomer ever managed to finish their pastrami sandwich, then they feel like they made a mistake.   

No further logic was offered to explain why they think that way.  I love pastrami sandwiches, but I resolved to never eat in that deli after seeing that piece (of course, I forgot what that deli was, so I'll never eat pastrami sandwiches anywhere in Manhattan, just to be safe).  Being boastful of both gluttony and waste of food seems very degenerate to me.

I think I know the place you are talking about. Great sandwiches. They are always on the travel channel.

Wish I could remember the name. dammit.

Katz's is the most famous one I remember having gone to off the top of my head (though I don't remember the sandwiches being too massive...  ) -- I think they are more memorable for the somewhat complex and merciless ordering system, and for the pickles. 

[Barrister]

Carnegie Deli is the place I had my giant sandwich.  Pure tourist trap, but fun.

[Ed Anger]

I think I know the place you are talking about. Great sandwiches.

Better than Triple Stacker? 

OH MY GOD YES.

[Capetan Mihali]

"Medical insurance for all might help."

Not damn likely.  People are out of shape because they don't take care of themselves--we eat too much (and often the wrong foods), we drink too much, we smoke (and any tobacco is probably too much) and we don't get enough exercise.  And we know this without having to go to the doctor to find it out.  More affordable health care isn't going to help us or force us to practice preventative medicine when we could pretty much do that for free anyway if we wanted to.

But more affordable health care might make people say "Hmm, this pre-diabetic numbness in my feet has been going on for a while, maybe I should get it checked out" rather than "Hmm, I'll put this out of my mind until I have full-blown diabetes and require wildly expensive treatment for it."   

[crazy canuck]

Is America really so different than Canada? If CC was to compare Vancouver to Seattle or San Fransisco, would there be a difference? I don't know if there is a Canadian counterpart to Orlando, but your national dish is poutine, isn't it?

My observation is that the average body type in Vancouver is very different from the average body type I saw in Disneyland - Southern California. I spent a weekend in SF years ago but I dont remember enough to make a comparison.  It has been a few years since I was In Washington State (I really hate crossing the border now) but I dont recall that great of a difference in body type.

One big difference I have always noticed in all American cities is portion size which is why I commented on it again.

edit: there are places in Canada that are known for large portion size - the Memphis Grill here in Vancouver comes to mind for that.  That is the reason they stand out from the crowd.

[Malthus]

I kinda liked Juniors, in Manhatten. Nice place, enormous portions. Tasty cheesecake (though again, in amounts normal folks can't actually eat).

Our visit was made memorable by the woman-mountain sitting next to us. Way she was seated, waitstaff was supposed to get in behind her to serve us, but she was so huge they couldn't actually do that.

She was very nice about it and moved when necessary. But damn, she was enormous - must have weighed 400 or 500 pounds. And if she ate there regularly, you could see why.

[Ed Anger]

You foriegners would love the Cheesecake Factory.

[crazy canuck]

You foriegners would love the Cheesecake Factory.

We have that here.  It would be interesting to compare portion sizes.

[Malthus]

edit: there are places in Canada that are known for large portion size - the Memphis Grill here in Vancouver comes to mind for that.  That is the reason they stand out from the crowd.

Same in Ontario. Amusingly (though I guess understandably), they always seem to have US -type names - two chains I associate with big sizes are Montana's and Boston Pizza - both are, despite their names, Canadian-based chains.

[Capetan Mihali]

You foriegners would love the Cheesecake Factory.

A factory that takes raw cheesecake and processes it into obesity?  Genius.

[CountDeMoney]

I think I know the place you are talking about. Great sandwiches.

Better than Triple Stacker? 

OH MY GOD YES.

That there's some big talking, pilgrim.  It is a Triple Stacker.