Three months into the coronavirus pandemic, it’s time to face the hard truth: now is not the best time for America’s buffets.
With cases of COVID-19 continuing to rise across the U.S., the buffet’s communal eating factor has made it unlikely that people will want to return any time soon. Food writer Corby Kummer, however, said that might not be the worst thing in the world.
The award-winning writer and senior editor at The Atlantic returned to Boston Public Radio on Thursday, where he reflected on why it’s probably for the best that Americans aren’t being tempted by the allure of the hot bar.
The first upside he gave (aside from the obvious) was cost.
“Paying by the pound,” he said, is "always more expensive than just buying and making the food yourself.”
Also on the table, he said, is the over-eating factor.
“It’s this whole idea that you’re pulling a fast one at a buffet. You’re getting a lot of food for nothing. Somehow, when nobody’s looking, you’re going and you’re getting another portion — and nobody ever offers you another portion.
"It’s gonna result in better portion control. Life is actually going to be better without buffets,” he said.
Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.
