Home > Healthy Eating > Archives > 2006 > June > 05 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBelly up to the buffet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The buffet is a long standing favorite for diners who are in the mood for lots of food and a set price. Sunday brunches are famous for their standing rib roast and all the shrimp you can eat. Of course, the modern buffet display has morphed to include an amazing selection of salads, too. So, are buffets only for folks who want to go and gorge? Or are there opportuniites for people who want to eat healthy to belly up the buffet and use it as a way to graze on just the foods they want to eat and get a chance to actually see the foods too!! No more mystery about what the dish will look like when you order off the menu and it eventually comes to you from the kitchen. With a buffet you can say YES to the chicken with artichokes or NO to the cream of mushroom soup and keep moving. All hail the buffet. Do you think they’re good for folks who want to eat healthy or a mine field of disaster for dieters??
Comments
By Susan
June 5, 2006 08:41 AM | Link to this
As one who has battled the scales my entire life, I can say from my own experience that the only mine field I constantly encountered was not found on the menu or at the end of the line of spoons warmed by the heat lamps of steam tables. The mines exploded every time I heard myself saying ‘just one more helping won’t hurt’. Thanks to a wonderful family doctor that refused to accept my excuses for being fat, I finally, after half a century of living, realized that moderation is the secret. As you stated in your article, the buffets circa 2006 DO include the variety of salads. However,where do we head to begin loading our plate? To the tempting meats, fied seafood,and desserts -to-die-for to make sure we get our money’s worth. No, the minefield is not laid by any enemy other than myself. I finally admit that I am the only person responsible for my health. Not the evil buffets that call my name.
By Carolyn
June 5, 2006 09:56 AM | Link to this
The good thing about a buffet is that you can survey the scene and then decide what you want to eat and control how much you take of each item. If you want to make sure you have room to enjoy a fabulous chocolate dessert then it’s easier to skip the pasta station or at least have a reason to say no to the alfredo sauce.
By Harold
June 5, 2006 10:37 AM | Link to this
The poor, the elderly and the obese eat at buffets.
Nobody should but the elderly since they don’t have long anyway so who cares what they eat.
By Marie
June 5, 2006 11:50 AM | Link to this
Buffets are nasty. Just sit next to one and watch the action for about an hour. I recently saw a man toss half a bowl of potato soup he had eaten back in the buffet trough and scoop a fresh serving for himself. People also use their fingers all the time to pick food up.
By deegee
June 5, 2006 12:56 PM | Link to this
Buffets really are a testament to the poor eating habits that Americans have adopted. They really do appeal to people that believe in quantity over quality. Personally, I think that all-you-can-eat buffet food is inedible, but to each his own. I got a kick out of reading about a buffet restaurant owner that kicked out a family of porkers for taking food, not eating it then going back for more.
By Scott
June 6, 2006 09:28 AM | Link to this
**You have got to be kidding me!” I can believe you had the nerve to write what you did. “Chicken with artichokes”? What buffet do you go to? Buffets here are all about the fried food and vegetables swimming in butter and oil. I used to go and just watch the floor show. People did load up on salad, and then use the blue cheese dressing to mold it into a mountain. Buffets should be outlawed, or at least call them what they are-feeding troughs.
By Kellie
June 6, 2006 10:20 AM | Link to this
AH! Food for the masses! I never eat in buffets. The “food” is always over salted, floating in grease and/or butter, “steamed foods” are drowning in stale water and don’t even get me started on the meat by-product they use for the “craving stations”. ICK! :P
By DAB
June 6, 2006 10:39 AM | Link to this
America just doesn’t get it! You can’t read the paper, listen to the news or even overhear a conversation about our obesity rate every day but some people just can’t grasp this is a growing problem in our country. Buffets play a large role with our “growing” issue. The food is cheap because it’s so unhealthy and people feel like they need to get their money’s worth. It’s just disgusting. Put down those pound of buffalo wings and take a walk for your health’s sake!
By BB
June 6, 2006 01:14 PM | Link to this
Buffets are just too tempting. Stay away - don’t “test” yourself. And Harold: cold, my man, cold. But true.
By Becky
June 6, 2006 01:40 PM | Link to this
Thank goodness someone else agrees with me. When we go out to eat with my husband’s family they always want to go to an all you can eat buffet. I can’t stand them & when I tell my husband that we’ll go eat with them only if I can pick the place, they change their minds about going. It doesn’t have to be Longhorn & Outback to please me, just no place that’s AUCE..One sister in law will eat about 4-5 plates, then complain that the food is horrible..DUH
By Jesse's Girl
June 6, 2006 04:40 PM | Link to this
I have been to some very high end buffets before; while also being privy to some rather low class and disgusting ones. There is one universal truth to all buffets….you really have no idea how long it has been sitting there. From a dietary stand point, they are calorie hell and more than likely full of preservatives. I don’t even want to think how many germs procreate at these buffets….It seems a wiser choice to order as fresh as you can and stay away from the whole thing.