I don't know what set me thinking about the idea of scarcity and restaurant portions, but it seems that often, though not necessarily always, the price of food in the pricier estblishments appears to be proportional to the size of the serving; the more expensive the menu determines that the portion be smaller.
In general, the capitalist ("market") theory of supply and demand states that the higher the price, the less demand there will be for that good or service, but when the demand is high and the quantity is scarce, the price of the item will increase. There is also the idea in this philosophy that if the supplier of the good or service does not allow what they are selling to become too plentiful, it will be more scarce, and they can attempt to sell it at a higher price.
This kind of rationing also has what I believe to be a psychological effect on the consumer, where they believe that the thing being sold is worth more, without actually knowing if the supply scarcity is being artificially created, or withheld. In other words, they don't know why or if something is truly rare, nor do they have a tool to determine why it should actually cost more.
In my own life, there have been circumstances where I wanted to buy an item, and have rushed to do so for fear of the thing being no longer available, based on a determination which may be alluded to by the seller, myself, or a combination of the two. The fear that I had regarding scarcity served to bypass the more normal weighing of options and outcomes that I might normally have considered when purchasing something that I don't really need, and plays on my own particular fear of not having enough, which I experienced in many ways as a child.
While I find the intentional manufacture of scarcity not always easy to spot when buying products, in restaurants I have a different outlook; I find the system easier to see, and once really seen, it becomes harder to be coerced by it. I order an appetizer or entree, and when it is placed on the table in front of me I am a bit shocked by how little food is on the plate.
It would be interesting, or rather beautiful, if I could so easily see this kind of manufacture of the appearance of scarcity in my own thinking. Perhaps I could then understand in a more visceral way that my own frequent thinking of the world as a plate with too little food on it is a trope that I have concoted, or have at least reproduced, for myself. I imagine I would find my own existence more consistently satisfying, without living in the fear that I will not have what I need, or enough of it.
This kind of rationing also has what I believe to be a psychological effect on the consumer, where they believe that the thing being sold is worth more, without actually knowing if the supply scarcity is being artificially created, or withheld. In other words, they don't know why or if something is truly rare, nor do they have a tool to determine why it should actually cost more.
In my own life, there have been circumstances where I wanted to buy an item, and have rushed to do so for fear of the thing being no longer available, based on a determination which may be alluded to by the seller, myself, or a combination of the two. The fear that I had regarding scarcity served to bypass the more normal weighing of options and outcomes that I might normally have considered when purchasing something that I don't really need, and plays on my own particular fear of not having enough, which I experienced in many ways as a child.
While I find the intentional manufacture of scarcity not always easy to spot when buying products, in restaurants I have a different outlook; I find the system easier to see, and once really seen, it becomes harder to be coerced by it. I order an appetizer or entree, and when it is placed on the table in front of me I am a bit shocked by how little food is on the plate.
It would be interesting, or rather beautiful, if I could so easily see this kind of manufacture of the appearance of scarcity in my own thinking. Perhaps I could then understand in a more visceral way that my own frequent thinking of the world as a plate with too little food on it is a trope that I have concoted, or have at least reproduced, for myself. I imagine I would find my own existence more consistently satisfying, without living in the fear that I will not have what I need, or enough of it.
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