City of excess in a land of plenty
By CNN's Richard Quest
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- There is something about a Las Vegas buffet that makes me feel sick.
I don't mean physically ill -- the food is far too good for that -- rather a feeling that there is something wrong with being offered "all I can eat," when others in the world are hungry.
My team and I decided we could not do Vegas without trying one of the city's famous buffets.
I'll spare the establishment by not giving its name, but it was one of the larger, better and more expansive spreads.
For $26 we were being invited to gorge (there is no other word) on just about everything you could possibly imagine.
Salads, fruits, roast meats, pizzas, tacos, fish, shrimp, crab, vegetables of every description and two desert shelves heaving with custards creams and cakes. And go back as often as we wished.
Now, it is well known that America is one of the most obese nations on Earth, and a short trip to Las Vegas gives one an understanding how this untasty statistic has come about.
Because although no-one forced me to eat like a pig, the reality is that is exactly what one does in such buffets. Worse still, the waste you generate as you do.
First course: Eyes bigger than stomach so load up plate with appetizers. Rapidly realize that I can't finish them all and still do justice to the rest, so just leave half the plate to be cleared and go back for next course.
Second course. Is it to be meat or fish? Oh well, do both. I'll just try a bit of this and that. Of course, not long before plate is heaving. Can't finish that lot off and still have room for fruit, desert and cheese. So leave much of that on the plate and and go back for ...
Desert. Better try the cake. The crème caramel looks good too. Oh and I love bread pudding. Yup. The custard on top. And shame to leave those strawberries on the plate. Actually, they look lonely, so put some pineapple on top.
You can see how it goes.
And I jest not, there were people who were doing this again and again. Its part of the psyche that says you've paid for this lot. You are entitled to, nay, it is your duty to eat as much as you can.
I am trying very hard here not to be sanctimonious. People are on holiday and are having a good time. But do they have to do it to such excess?
Elsewhere on this Web site we are reporting the famine in Sudan. Food aid across large parts of Africa. And here I am shoveling in as much food as I can eat simply because it is there ... and wasting a good deal on the way.
I wondered what the solution might be. Could the buffet invite participants to make a contribution to Oxfam? Could part of my entrance money be given to a food charity? Or would that spoil the atmosphere and remind us of the gluttony we were about to embark upon.
In the end, it reminded me of the old story of when we were children and didn't finish our meals. Parents would admonish us that there were children in the world starving.
Our too-clever-by half retort was: "Oh well parcel it up and send it to them."
Frankly that night in Las Vegas I wish someone given me the box, string and postage to do just that. Because I couldn't think of any other way to make my conscience feel better.
