476446 Sat Jan 05 12:51:01 -0800 2008 10 33 Food Media and News 0 3264426 Sometimes the truth is better than any fiction you can conjur up. An article in the Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/05/nsoup105.xml about a British food processor who is coming out with a new line of foods with edible bowls and plates. Taking off from the ideo of hollowing out a round of bread, they are actually forming and baking bowls and plates out of dough, and then packaging them with an "entree". A picture of a typical English breakfast in a bowl here: http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/advances_in_edible_dishes/ And the purveyor of these delectable items, Butt foods. Make mine barbequed pork butt in a sesame seed bowl. http://FIGHT-PTSD.ORG Sat Jan 05 12:51:01 -0800 2008 10059 ChinoWayne 1 3265719 Looked at the breakfast bowl, then thought of the soups-in-a-bread-bowl I've had (nothing more repulisive than a soggy bowl), and I have to think that the biggest gain in their game plan will be people not having to wash plates or bowls but just feeding them to the garbage disposer. By the time I finish a dinner on a bread plate, I just don't want to be faced with... Well, there's a huge difference between "clean your plate" and "eat your plate!" Sat Jan 05 21:12:27 -0800 2008 3264426 112096 Caroline1 1 3265946 Nothing new. "Trenchers" were common in medieval feasts. http://www.godecookery.com/how2cook/howto07.htm Sat Jan 05 23:15:14 -0800 2008 3264426 13619 Sharuf 1 3265994 terrific. so they're encouraging people to consume even MORE calories at each meal. and i'm sure the bread is made with processed flour, to boot. a brilliant product to introduce to a society that's already eating itself into an early grave... Sat Jan 05 23:57:08 -0800 2008 3264426 103920 goodhealthgourmet 2 3266812 I don't think replacing bread with a sillier looking bread really has much effect on the health content. Maybe for the breakfast one it's more food than should be consumed, but if you look through their pictures, they're mostly sandwich-bread-replacements (there's a hot dog on a long bread boat thing, etc), or for chili or something which would traditionally be served with rice or cornbread, so this isn't really such a step down. If people want to waste money on having their bread carved into a shape... I will privately laugh, but that is certainly their right. Sun Jan 06 10:41:52 -0800 2008 3265994 11485 Adrienne 3 3267746 granted, the one with the hot dog doesn't look too big, but the "bread bowls" & "crusty bowls" appear to me to be a heck of a lot larger than the single piece of bread or cornbread a person might/should eat with a bowl of chili or soup. products like this encourage excessive consumption...and foster consumer expectations of, and desire for, inappropriately large portion sizes. Sun Jan 06 16:36:13 -0800 2008 3266812 103920 goodhealthgourmet 4 3267786 I would put the extra calories etc as unintended consequences. I don't think these idiots are so evil as to intend people to eat more starch, bread is just another way to serve their purpose, have something edible hold the food and not fall apart. The other selling point is that the packaging is biodegradable, even if people don't end up eating it. Sun Jan 06 16:52:27 -0800 2008 3267746 11826 Phaedrus 5 3267850 i never said they were evil. i just think it's unfortunate [and somewhat ironic] that in their attempt to offer an environmentally friendly product, they're encouraging [intentionally or not] over-consumption. Sun Jan 06 17:14:45 -0800 2008 3267786 103920 goodhealthgourmet 6 3269759 Goodhealthgourmet, totally agree with you. Portion sizes have gone up (at least in America) over the years. While we are all responsible for our health and can choose not to eat the entire bread bowl, it's been shown in countless studies that people will generally eat what is placed in front of them (even if they are not hungry). I understand that people are busy, but I feel that people need to return to cooking more. Mon Jan 07 10:31:05 -0800 2008 3267850 10763 Miss Needle 7 3269833 amen. if you're interested in reading about the "mindless eating" phenomenon, track down some of Brian Wansink's research - or his book. fascinating stuff. i get pretty riled up about this topic...the effect of increasing portion sizes on the obesity epidemic was the subject of my master's thesis. Mon Jan 07 10:46:07 -0800 2008 3269759 103920 goodhealthgourmet 1 3270217 Thanks for sharing - definitely an interesting extrapolation of the bread bowl concept. I wound up blogging about it! Mon Jan 07 12:09:59 -0800 2008 3264426 112406 Chew on That