>There was also a consensus on the "load factor". All agreed that we
>did not need as many calories as in the past. Banquets in the 19th
>century were often composed of six or seven meat, poultry, or game
>dishes, not counting several appetizers and desserts. In these days
>elevators did not exist, driving had not replaced walking, houses
>were barely heated. Calories were necessary to survive in this
>environment. This was no longer the case, hence the trend to diminish
>the size of the portions which, of course, generated some
>exaggerations in the size of the reduction.
>
I don't know how necessary these calories were...especially since most
of the people who ate them sat on their asses doing nothing. There's an
early chapter in Anna Karenina, where Tolstoy describes such a nine
course dinner, with obvious distaste.
Joanna