Is the term "slop bowl" too harsh for itself?

[BAPyessir6]

Saw a short YouTube documentary about slop bowls recently. In this, the commentator talked about how all slop bowls taste the same, and talked about how most food joints all get their food from 1 of 3 suppliers (Sysco, USFoods, and PFG /Performance Food Group/)

(A slop bowl is a critical internet term to refer to types of food often served in a bowl at fast food restaurants, such as Chipotle rice bowls, Panera grain bowls, and things like SweetGreen and Cava (never heard of either personally but the former is a rice bowl with like chicken, avocado, etc. The latter is Mediterranean.)

I think slop bowl is a bit. . .excessive though. I feel like Chipotle specifically (and those like it) are trying to be somewhat more healthy than say, McDonald's. Also, if anything served in a bowl at a restaurant is considered slop, does that include things like Panda Express and most if not all fried rice?

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Is the term "slop bowl" too harsh for itself?

Not if you're feeding pigs.

 

[caseydog]

KFC used to have some bowls that looked like slop in a bowl. I don't know if they still do. I never ate one, and never wanted to.

It is true that most fast food and fast casual chains get their food from those three suppliers. The restaurants give recipes to them, and they make it in their factories.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

I agree with Sir LOB - only for pigs. What was the point of the video? Someone looking to make a few bucks with shock and clic bait?

 

[BAPyessir6]

I agree with Sir LOB - only for pigs. What was the point of the video? Someone looking to make a few bucks with shock and clic bait?

My parents actually raised pigs twice when I was younger. The pigs were surprisingly smart and the next year we had the best garden ever cause they basically ploughed the dirt the entire time they were there.

Probably just shock and click bait. I hadn't heard the term slop bowl before, so I was surprised it was used for a style of fast food.

Like sure, fast food isn't as healthy or yummy as homemade, but people don't eat fast food for its innate health benefits. People compare fast food nowadays to like the film Wall-E where the people are all eating slushies that provide nutrients.

Granted, on the internet people love to use shock value in their words. Crazy statements get engagement.

 

[dcSaute]

"slop bowl" is a 'known thing' - it's history is a receptacle for tea service 'leftovers'

at home with young kids, when we had stuff like ribs or fried chicken, I put out a (basically serving...) dish which become known as "the bone patrol" - same idea.

methinks this modern use generically refers to the multitude of "bowl" fast food offerings, albeit in an intentionally derogatory way . . . but an apt and well deserved moniker . . .

 

[BAPyessir6]

"slop bowl" is a 'known thing' - it's history is a receptacle for tea service 'leftovers'

at home with young kids, when we had stuff like ribs or fried chicken, I put out a (basically serving...) dish which become known as "the bone patrol" - same idea.

methinks this modern use generically refers to the multitude of "bowl" fast food offerings, albeit in an intentionally derogatory way . . . but an apt and well deserved moniker . . .

Apt and well deserved due to the lower quality "leftover" aspect of the ingredients (though I don't know how much fast food places use actual "leftovers" as their food), or the oversaturation of the market with the "bowl" product offering?

My mom always made soup to use up leftovers when I was growing up. If a restaurant turns baked potatoes on day 1 into soup on day 3, or baked chicken into chicken salad, is it "that" much degrade in quality? I feel using up leftovers was one of the things my mom did super well growing up, and I understand that restaurants do that too so they don't waste all their food.

If a fast food restaurant uses, say, the ends of chicken breasts in their rice bowls, I don't know if a consumer should necessarily hate on the restaurant for doing that, as in my opinion I feel like using it in something is better than throwing it into landfill.

These are just my opinions and thoughts though. My mom was starving at least one point in her life so she always taught me to value food and try to never waste it or throw it away.

That being said, I don't at all like how say, some fast food places make chicken nuggets that are 30 percent fiber/bread and 70 percent chicken, so calling that "100 percent chicken-style meat" is a lie of omission. Efficiency vs. deceptive advertising.

 

[medtran49]

I dislike "slop" bowls just on the premise of all that food glopped together. No thank you. Of course, I tend to avoid food touching on my plate, which I wasn't consciously aware of until someone on here pointed it out years ago.

I've noticed that I'm getting a bit worse about that the older I get. I now find myself eating all or mostly all of 1 item on my plate at a time.

 

[BAPyessir6]

I dislike "slop" bowls just on the premise of all that food glopped together. No thank you. Of course, I tend to avoid food touching on my plate, which I wasn't consciously aware of until someone on here pointed it out years ago.

I've noticed that I'm getting a bit worse about that the older I get. I now find myself eating all or mostly all of 1 item on my plate at a time.

Heh, I used to be grossed out by mom eating stuff together (like putting cranberry sauce on as stuffing) for Thanksgiving.

I like eating things together more now, as the contrast for specific food is more interesting to my pallet. But during Thanksgiving I still have a "eat one thing at a time" on my plate mentality and push things apart from each other. So I totally get that too. Guess it depends on my mindset when I sit down to eat or something.

 

[Gone Hiking]

I've never heard the term "slop bowl", but I've often referred to such food as "slop".

 

[Kathleen]

I dislike "slop" bowls just on the premise of all that food glopped together. No thank you. Of course, I tend to avoid food touching on my plate, which I wasn't consciously aware of until someone on here pointed it out years ago.

I've noticed that I'm getting a bit worse about that the older I get. I now find myself eating all or mostly all of 1 item on my plate at a time.

We are similar in this. There are foods that simply go together like mashed potatoes with gravy, and there are things that simply do not go together such as gravy with cranberry sauce. Ew. For this reason, I am so proud of my diverse collection of divider plates. The term "slop" is what goes through my mind when the wrong items touch.

To prevent me from embarrassing family, I now have these food separators for my regular plates. They work surprisingly well.

 

[dragnlaw]

WoW - bet my SIL would love those! Since her stroke handling knives and forks can be challenging, although she manages. I think these would give her much more freedom with some of her food choices. There are many she no longer enjoys as they are such a challenge.
I'm going to Amazon here to check! Thanks Kathleen!

Me personally I'm pretty sure I'd find them annoying to say the least. LOL they'd probably go flying across the room shortly after starting to eat!

 

[Kathleen]

@dragnlaw I found them searching for items for my friend in Seattle. She struggles with meal times as her motor skills have been seriously diminished due to Parkingsons. We also got her these utensils and they helped a lot.

 

[dragnlaw]

So I checked with .ca on Amazon $32. Cdn. that's like $10. more! what a rip.

 

[dragnlaw]

I also saw those as well. I'll take a closer look next time and see how she holds them. Might do those as well. Just ticks me off on the price differences. Not the first time I've seen a large discrepancy.

 

[Kathleen]

I like these because the heads on them adjust. Most do not do that.

 

[BAPyessir6]

So I checked with .ca on Amazon $32. Cdn. that's like $10. more! what a rip.

If you moved into the US, you could get it for cheaper!

 

[HeyItsSara]

My family loves big flat bowls to eat from. I call them Hoover bowls. I think that's a fun name -but slop?

 

[dcSaute]

My family loves big flat bowls to eat from. I call them Hoover bowls. I think that's a fun name -but slop?

perhaps you missed the start of the thread?

"slop bowls" is a term as applied by the original post . . . to the fast food joints "bowls" of "something" sold as a token to serving "healthy meals"
they don't make them, nothing about them is 'in store prepared' - it's the same 'slop' as delivered by Sysco/etc. to every other place that wants to do a 'health' front.

mostly. one can think some mega-chains insist on Sysco/et.al. making/providing a "bowl" to their own specifications. which probably works until the bean counters decide that extra nickel per bowl is destroying company profits.

 

[HeyItsSara]

no, i saw it