What do you think about McDonald’s reducing the portion of the kid’s meal French fries to two ounces and adding apple slices instead?

Contrary to what you might think, I don’t have a problem with that. But it is for different reasons. Portion sizes on a lot of menus are too big now. I think kids should experience smaller sizes of food, but a variety of flavors when they order a kid’s meal at a fast food place or a restaurant. By the way, historically fry sizes were much smaller in fast food.

From The Hamburger, A Global History, by Andrew F. Smith he says that “During World War II, when meat was rationed, hamburger stand operators had to find alternatives for the scarce beef hamburger. Potatoes were not rationed, and they were abundant and cheap, so during the war French fries became a staple on restaurant menus. Even after the war went away, and rationing ended, the demand for French fries increased.”

“Initially McDonalds only offered a large 2 ounce (57 gram) size. Today a small order of McDonald’s fries is 2 ounces.”

So, for kid’s meals we are back to where we actually started. At home, when serving oven baked fries, try pairing the potatoes with a dip or salsa. The dipping process slows down how fast the potatoes can be consumed, making kids conscious of how much they eat at one setting.