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Milagros Israel
English 1A
P. Calkins
17 October 2015
Does Size Matter?
In the essay “Downsizing Supersizing” written by James Surowiecki, he talks
about portion sizes and the effects that it has on today’s society and obesity as a whole.
He talks about the soda ban that was proposed by Michael Bloomberg, who is now the
former mayor of New York City. In this proposed ban, it was stated that no sodas over
the size of 16-ounces would be sold anywhere in the city. Bloomberg felt that he would
try and help the obesity problem in his own city. If anyone wanted to have a soda that
was more than 16-ounces, they would have to pay for it. Most people, if they know they
have to pay more for something to have it in a bigger size, they won’t do it, depending
on what it is.
There were many people on both sides of the political spectrum that argued
against this. They thought that individuals had a right to choose what they wanted, and
the size they wanted it in. When you look back into the past, sizes have changed
dramatically. Surowiecki says “. . . since the 1970s the portion sized offered by food
companies and restaurants have grown significantly larger. In 1974, the biggest drink
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McDonald’s offered was 21 ounces. Today, that’s roughly the side of a ‘small’ drink at
Burger King, and consumption has risen accordingly.” (124) How true is his statement?
In my opinion, I think that this is a great idea. Obesity is a huge epidemic
that has spun out of control and fast. We, as a society, need to find ways to try and get
a tighter grip on it. People buy the sizes that is offered to them, and most don’t care
about how big the size it. If it is there, in front of them, they will eat it. A lot of people will
not realize just how full they are by the time they are done eating. I use to be like that. I
ate everything on my plate, whether or not I was still hungry, simply because it was right
there in front of me. I ordered the bigger sodas because let’s face it, in some places, it’s
cheaper to get it bigger, or, it can be the same price as the small. If you take the
