Mini-Mize Me?

A few years ago Morgan Spurlock’s documentary “Super Size Me” offered an unappetizing view of America’s oversized appetite for fast food–and the dirty underbelly of what happens when one person lives on fast food alone. I couldn’t help but think of “Super Size Me” on opposite day (as SpongeBob loves to celebrate; click here for an “Opposite Day” episode on JibJab) when I read in the newspaper this past week about shrinking package sizes.

It seems that the Kellogg Company began rolling out reduced-sized cereal boxes at the beginning of June–boxes that are 2.4 ounces smaller than their predecessors but more expensive. Supposedly, despite the smaller box size, Kellogg’s has raised cereal prices twice in the past six months. I can’t tell from this Associated Press story which boxes have shrunk–meaning is my 17 ounce box of Frosted Flakes now less than 15 ounces? Or did they shrink the smallest boxes out there? However, I do know that this shrinkage (“Seinfeld” anyone?) will affect kid favorites like Cocoa Krispies and Corn Pops.

Turns out that Kellogg’s isn’t alone in shrinking packaging. General Mills did this about a year ago with its cereals, and I’ve noticed that a lot of the ice cream makers are doing this, too. Recently, when ordering my groceries online, I went to select a half gallon of ice cream from either Breyer’s or Turkey Hill, but noticed that a half gallon of ice cream–or 64 ounces–was nearly impossible to come by these days. In fact, a half gallon of ice cream has simply become a misnomer.

Now, ice cream comes in 56-ounce packages or 1.75 quarts. I noticed this change about a year ago. Well, now ice cream packages are getting even smaller–the Turkey Hill Extreme Cookies and Cream I just purchased came in a 48-ounce container or 1.5 quarts. Of course, has the price dropped on ice cream? Hardly. If anything it’s gone up.

Normally, I would laud companies for finding smaller ways to package their products, such as how Tide has concentrated its liquid detergent so that it can be sold in smaller containers that, not surprisingly, use less plastic. I mean smaller packaging means less waste, and isn’t that the green way to think about things?

But when it comes to food, I hate this notion of giving me less for more money. Then again, with gas over the $4-a-gallon mark nationally, I guess we should all get used to getting less for more money.