No I am not. Please explain.
I once had cats like this. They were good cats.
I am afraid the container may be more wasteful than the content in terms of ressources consumed and waste in the environement. And they’ll probably throw the content away anyway.
Fully agree with nelliebly’s post.
I was one of four kids (3 girls and a boy), but it was still who grabs the fastest gets the mostest. It’s a really hard habit to break.
Yeah, but I had a difficult time not giving the side-eye to a cow-orker who went wild at our Christmas luncheon at the Queen Mary buffet. He grabbed plates and plates and plates of food and ate a few bites from each. I didn’t say anything, but I thought a lot of thoughts.
All my dogs are/were like this. They are/were great dogs.
A friend of ours keeps a set of nested reusable containers in her car. Wherever food is served, if there are leftovers , she’ll run out and get her containers.
They are very nice, and have her name printed on them. I suggest inviting her to dinners and parties in part so others can see how to properly deal with leftovers.
In some cultures ( including some American ones) eating every bit of food on your plate implies that you weren’t served enough/are still hungry. But it doesn’t mean you are supposed to leave a large amount of food any more that “cleaning your plate” usually means you have licked it to get every bit of mashed potato. You were supposed to leave a bite or two.
Your friend does the right thing, and I would love to follow your suggestion and invite her over, but I guess Europe is a bit far away.
e.g., “15 Rules for Eating in China” says “The faster you eat, the faster your bowl will be filled so it’s a good idea to leave a little bit of food in your bowl when you are done eating.” In other words, leaving food is a signal you are finished, while eating everything is an indication you want more.
However, alternative etiquette in other places is that you should always finish your plate, so there is no universal rule, obviously, I just meant be aware. But in no case does that mean you are supposed to eat only 20% of a huge serving. Well, actually, have you ever been served a 12 or 15 course meal? I have, and there is no way you are finishing all of that.
I don’t put a large amount on my plate and then eat very little of it - but it’s not unheard of for me to put a normal amount on my plate and leave some of it . Some people may know exactly how much food they can eat before they feel full, but I’m not one of them.
The operative words in your response are “may be.”
My crowd have been reuse, recycle and repurpose folks for longer than many on this message board have been alive. I send food home in reusable containers and often get them back when I enjoy a meal at their place.
We do the same with canning jars when exchanging home canned goods.
Yes, of course, but thinking about the OP the problem is probably not the sort of people who reuse, recycle and repurpose. If they were the problem would not arise. And if you give them reusable containers those kind of people are the ones who might not bring it back. Not because they want to keep it, the just would not think of it at the next visit.
But I completely agree, you, like Kayaker’s friend, are absolutely correct.
If you don’t want to plate for them, maybe have some take home containers and offer to send their leftovers home with them. If they waste it at home, at least you tried.
Certainly true, but the containers oughtn’t be disposable. I don’t care if my friends never bring the containers back. I literally make a gift of the food (if they want it) and the reusable container.
Before I make up the “doggie” containers, I often ask, “Is this something you enjoyed enough to take home? Would you like a little more, or shall I find another way to make use of your leftovers?” Few would opt to take home the leftovers and then just throw them away. I don’t know if this would be a touchy situation for the OP or not, but it’s an option.
If this were not your daughter & her husband, would you care as much? At all? If it was friends or neighbors of yours would it bother you? It seems you think that somehow your daughter isn’t living up to your expectations.
One is a friend, the other is a SIL.
Yes, I suspect I would feel the same if any guest did this. These are just 2 (of the limited # of folk we have over for meals) who do so regularly.
So are you concerned about how your daughter treats food or just your SIL? Did your daughter do as you expected?
My mother married a man with a teenage son who would leave a bite or two on his plate. My mother grew up in the depression era and was indignant at this waste of food. The son was obviously told that it was politeness to show you were too full to eat more, but my mother made that behavior stop. They never developed a warm relationship.
One way to look at it, at the end it’s just food; is that worth a battle?
This thread seems to be about etiquette. I mean, if you are worried about food waste per se, just walk around the city and note the redonkulous amount of waste from restaurants, supermarkets, and just individual consumers— I’ve had stuff go bad myself. It may not be an exaggeration to say that in the U.S. and U.K. 30% of purchased food is wasted. I mean that it is a problem, but not one that is directly impacted by whether or not you leave a couple of bites of food on your plate because you think it is polite, or conversely clean it off because you think that is what you should do.
My mom does this and has since I was small. She takes the most delicious portion of food, usually the largest, then nudges it around on her plate and eats maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of it. At this point it’s just habit. She has cancer so she can’t eat much (her cancer is in her throat), but she’s been doing this ever since I can remember.
When I was in my 20s I asked her about it and she said that she doesn’t ever want to feel like she is going to run out of something. So I think the visualization somehow of decadence and abundance is really satisfying. I’m not sure if it’s the same for the OP’s guests or not - that’s just one perspective. Some people also prefer to leave a bite or two of food because they either don’t want the host to think there wasn’t enough food or maybe they don’t want to appear so famished they’re practically licking their plate.
I certainly don’t like food waste and it’s aggravating to see the choicest portion of a meal go in the trash - but it’s an occupational hazard of hosting so I try to ignore it. Plus, my mom is the only one who does that in my house. I won’t plate for others, though - it’s too fraught and very unpredictable, especially if kids are involved, but that’s a whole other conversation.
You don’t necessarily have to plate the entire meal from the kitchen, such as is done in restaurants. It may be enough to handle the main dish tableside.
For example if you are carving a roast, ask the guests to pass their plates and serve them directly from a carving board rather than filling up a serving platter to pass around. The roast stays by you on the table (if your table has room) or a nearby counter for the whole meal, and whenever someone wants more they pass or walk their plate to you. The side dishes can circulate around the table as usual, or if you lay them out buffet-style they can remain on the buffet.
~Max
Just want to second this. As a host, your concern for your guest’s meal begins and ends at, “Did they like it?” “Did they clean their plate,” is not something you should be remotely concerning yourself with, and any attempt to make guests comply with your ideas of food wastage is just going to generate ill will between you and the guest.